EDITOR’S NOTE: After
KAIROS #1 at Okaloosa C. I. a few months ago, which Charlie volunteered to
work, a follow-up meeting is held on the third Saturday of each month in the
prison chapel. The KAIROS brothers,
Christian volunteers from the local church community, return for a couple of
hours of fellowship and talks. Unlike many national prison ministries that put
on programs in prisons, then leave with no continuing presence, the KAIROS ministry has been successful, in part,
because it encourages the men to participate in weekly prayer and sharing
groups among themselves, and the monthly meetings with the outside volunteers.
Once called Ultreyas, from its roots in the Spanish Cursillo movement, these
meetings are now called reunions.
At each reunion, a couple of prisoners are asked to
speak about their Fourth Day Walk. At the November gathering, Charlie was asked
to speak. Following is a report filed by Charlie on his talk.
“Good morning. My name is
Charlie Norman. I attended KAIROS number
nine in May, 1982, at Union Correctional Institution and sat at the table of
St. James. I’m glad to be here with you. I’d rather be here than in the best
cancer hospital in the nation.”
(Laughter)
“The KAIROS program lasts over a three-day weekend. When you go through KAIROS they tell you that the next day
is the Fourth Day, when you return to the world, the prison world, and that
Fourth Day “Walk” doesn’t last for just one day, but continues on through your
walk with Christ by your side. Little did I know how long my Fourth Day Walk in
prison would last.”
“Ten days ago I celebrated
an anniversary of sorts. On November 6, 2013, I completed serving thirteen
thousand days in prison. According to the Microsoft program I’ve been using in
the computer class, those thirteen thousand days translate to thirty-five point
five-seven years. A lifetime. I’ve worn out many pairs of shoes on this long
walk.
(Laughter)
“The KAIROS program I attended
over thirty-one years ago was a lot different than it is today. Those were the
early days of KAIROS, the only
program was at Raiford, and the “Nine Old Men,” the founders of KAIROS, attended each one. Most all of
those good men are gone now, except for one, I think, and over time, as it
expanded into prisons in many states and other countries, KAIROS changed. But one thing has not changed, and that is the love
of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday, and He’ll be the
same tomorrow.”
(Applause)
“At our table we were
asked to discuss how each of us could better serve Christ in our environment,
in prison, and we had a good talk. We talked about something that others say to
us, I thought you were a Christian. Has anyone else ever heard this?”
(Laughter and applause)
“I admit that I once said
those words. Before I went to KAIROS,
I was an angry man. Crooked prosecutors had threatened me with the death
penalty, and I said, ‘Bring it on.’ I
was in a terrible prison with a fresh life sentence, and had a bad attitude.”
“There was a prison guard
called Trooper, who was one of those hard-core Christians. Trooper carried
those little ‘tracts’ around with him, and he would accost both prisoners and
guards when he was on the yard.”
(Stepping from the podium and leaning down toward a
retired military officer, in an insistent voice):
“Are you a Christian? Have you been washed in the
blood of the Lamb? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior? If
you die today are you going to Heaven or Hell?”
(Laughter)
“You get the picture. One
day Trooper was talking to several of us on the yard, guys were snickering at
him, making fun, and one prisoner said, ‘Trooper,
how can you call yourself a Christian, and stand in that gun tower with a
shotgun, ready to blast someone? Didn’t your God say ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill?’ ”
(Laughter)
“And Trooper answered, ‘You know, I told the colonel the same
thing. Why do you put me in that gun tower? I can’t shoot anybody!’ ”
(More laughter)
“You can imagine what
happened. Two prisoners off to the side heard what Trooper said, and went, ‘Hmmm.’ They began planning, and a
couple weeks later, when Trooper was up in the gun tower, they hit the first
fence. Trooper yelled, ‘Stop!’ but
they kept climbing. They hit the second fence, and we heard the ‘CLACK-CLACK’ as Trooper chambered a
round in that pump shotgun, followed by a BOOM-BOOM!
Trooper shot both of them. He didn’t kill them — they lived.”
“A few weeks later,
Trooper was back on the yard, passing out religious booklets, tracts, and approaching
prisoners with his spiel. He walked up to a group I was standing in, and I
asked him, ‘Trooper, I thought you were a
Christian. What does God say about those two men you shot?’ ”
“Trooper thought for a
moment, and said, ‘I am a
Christian. But God doesn’t want me to lose my job!’ ”
(Much more laughter)
“That’s how one man felt
led to serve Christ in that environment. We live in a far different
environment. Most of us live in the re-entry dorm, where many men are
Christians who don’t have a whole lot of time left on their sentences. The
living conditions are better, compared to other dorms, because a majority of
men are trying to do right, to get ready for freedom.”
“The Bible says Jesus is
the Good Shepherd, and the shepherd knows his sheep. And the sheep know their
shepherd. We are the sheep, but intermingled with the sheep are wolves in
sheep’s clothing, wolves who pretend to be sheep, on the surface, who look to
take advantage of a good situation, but actually are there to prey on what they
perceive as weak sheep. But that’s not necessarily true. Those weak ones, the
ones you call sheep, are actually ewes, the females. How many people — not you
city guys — how many have actually been around a flock of sheep? Let’s have a
show of hands.”
(A scattering of hands are raised)
“The females, the ewes,
the ones who need protection, are what people commonly think of as sheep,
frightened, manipulated, easily led. But they don’t think about the males, the
strong ones, the rams, who are also
sheep. Have you ever seen a ram up
close, with the big curving horns, and the hard heads? Those bad boys are
tough! Grandma said don’t butt heads with a billy goat, and the same holds true
with rams. When the flock is threatened, the rams gather up and protect the
sheep. They’ll knock a wolf for a loop. We’ve all seen the St. Louis Rams
football team. Nobody calls them the wimps. Jesus was not a softie. He was a
tough guy. He had to be. He stood up to the Romans. And you can be a member of
Jesus’ flock and be strong, too. I am a ram. Nobody calls me weak. And you are
rams, too. You worship God in your own way, be God’s man in prison, and no one
will say, I thought you were a Christian!
They will know you are a Christian.
Thank you and God bless.”
(Applause)
AFTERWORD FROM CHARLIE
I rejoined my table after speaking
to the group, feeling pumped up from the positive response. Three other
prisoners and a clean-cut young man named Mike greeted me. I’d met Mike for the
first time only an hour or so before, introducing himself as active-duty
military, in the U. S. Navy. This area of Northwest
Florida has a number of bases, including Eglin Air Force Base and
the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Mike told me that he had been inspired by what
I’d said, and I was touched by his sincerity. It takes a special person to give
up their Saturday and come into a state prison to share their beliefs with a
bunch like us. One of the other prisoners at our table had been in the Navy,
and shared some of his experiences. I asked Mike what he did in the service,
and he said, “I’m an F-18 pilot,” which impressed me even more. If I could
inspire an F-18 Fighter pilot, perhaps I am doing the right thing.
Below is a photo of KAIROS
#49 at Tomoka C.I., Daytona
Beach, Florida, on
April 16, 2004. I am kneeling, wearing sunglasses, by the “theme poster” I
painted for that occasion, along with prisoners and “KAIROS brothers” who
participated in that program. Over the years I painted over a hundred posters
for KAIROS programs in Florida,
several other states, and even a few foreign countries, along with “outside”
weekend programs put on by Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, and other churches.
Several men in this photo have achieved their freedom and lead successful lives
in society. I yearn to join them.
