There were fourteen of us today in our “Sacred Stories” Circle of the Word. Twelve of the participants were women residing in the jail. Susan Bennett and I were the Circlekeepers. We pretty much filled the room.

The story for the day was Jesus before Pilate. Sometimes I call it “The Trial Before Pilate,” sometimes just “The Sentencing.” I begin by paraphrasing all the stories we have done in the “Journey to Resurrection” series, starting with “The Anointing” from Mark 14. I put graphics along the edge of our Circle to highlight the sequence of episodes.

When I came to last week’s story about Peter’s denial, I kept mixing up Jesus and Peter. For example, after the council condemns Jesus, I said that Jesus was down in the courtyard (Peter was there, not Jesus). Thankfully, Susan corrected me so I wouldn’t have everyone totally confused.

Then, when I said the slave-girl three times identified Peter as one of Jesus’ supporters, one of the women corrected me. She pointed out that the slave-girl identified Peter twice, but the bystanders did it the third time. I was very impressed at how thoroughly she had learned “Peter’s Denial” last week.

In today’s story, the crowd shouts vehemently, “Crucify him!” It’s hard to tell and painful to hear. Nevertheless, everyone listened. It was an unusually attentive group. Maybe that’s because these stories connect with the women’s own experience of betrayal, arrest, interrogation, trial, sentencing, and imprisonment. They could no doubt relate to how Jesus was handed over from one authority to the next.

Susan led the Word I Heard activity. The words and phrases we offered after hearing the story a second time pretty much covered all its episodes. After Susan read these off at the end of the activity and commented on how much of the story we had covered the woman next to her said, “We listened well.”

This observation and affirmation of the group effort was both accurate and heart-warming. More than that, the comment emphasized the value of the gift of good listening. The women listen well to each other, to the storyteller, and to the Word of God. In prayer, they trust that God will listen well to them. That is one way of practicing faith.

In Circle of the Word at the jail (“Sacred Stories”), we are moving through the passion of Jesus according to Mark. Today’s story was “Peter’s Denial.” Eleven women came and most had some familiarity with this story. It’s a good story for Ash Wednesday.

When we started the Check-In round, I said I was feeling “reflective” because it is the first day of Lent. The “honor-the talking-piece” guideline for Circle was immediately forgotten by the question, “What is Lent?”

I should have known and said something about the significance of the day beforehand. As it was I said I’d tell about Lent after we were done with the round. Which I did.

There was a surprising amount of interest in Lent and Ash Wednesday. If I ever lead a Circle on Ash Wednesday again in jail I’ll plan some time to talk about it, maybe do an imposition of ashes. And connect it more pointedly to the story of Peter’s Denial.

The Word I Heard exercise brought out a variety of words and phrases, some from the story, some inspired by the story. One woman offered a commentary that was especially poignant: ““He forgot who he was walking with.”

Peter wasn’t the only one who ever suffered that kind of amnesia. Most of us do much of the time. Ash Wednesday is an opportunity to acknowledge our forgetfulness, repent of it, and commit to remembering that the spirit of Jesus accompanies our journey through life.

We engaged the story of Jesus’ arrest this week. We used a talking piece for each of the four parts of the story.

The gong for the singing bowl (aka chime) did double duty as a club, representing part one (a crowd came to arrest him with swords and clubs), though it could also have represented part three (Jesus says, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were an insurrectionist?”).

We used a wooden Jesus figure for part two, where Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss and they then lay hands on him and arrest him.

Jesus’ verbal response to those who arrest him ends with a fulfillment-of-scripture statement, unique in the Gospel of Mark. So the scroll represents part three.

And then there’s that young man following Jesus who also gets arrested. But he slips out of the linen cloth he was wearing and runs away naked. So the long-legged undressed doll represents part four.

Here’s the story in parts…Mk14_43-52_Arrest_script

“Preparations for Passover” by Cortney Haley

Yesterday was the third week of our February-March Circle of the Word at the county jail. The theme for this series of stories is “Journey to Resurrection.” The stories are from Mark 14-16, starting with The Anointing.

The next story was supposed to be “Preparations for the Passover,” but nobody brought women for our class. Myrna (my co-Circlekeeper that day) and I stood waiting in the hallway for 20 minutes or so. We can’t get in because the door is locked.

We have learned to be patient at the jail, and we were, but when an officer came out of a staff bathroom down the hall, I hailed him for help. He obliged, going off to check with someone.

The jail is short on staff, we are told, and those there often have to work double shifts. The local news reports big issues with the jail. So I wasn’t surprised at our little one.

Eventually we learned that the all-important list of women who were supposed to be brought for class never made it from the chaplain, who puts together the list (and who was absent that day) to the powers that make “transportation” happen.

So, we missed the Circle on “Preparations for Passover.” Missed opportunities go with the territory of prison ministry. But there are always new opportunities comin’ down the pike.

In our Circle at the jail, we usually have a theme for a series of related stories that we cover over a number of weeks, one story at a time. In this past November and December we surveyed the women to see which story themes would be preferred. They were asked to indicate their favorite four out of twelve. Taking advantage of a write-in option, one woman responded that she would like to learn stories about understanding God more, and another wanted to learn stories about Jesus. The rest chose as follows:

Loving Your Enemy (12)

Healing Stories (11)

Women in Luke (9)

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus (8)

Psalms and Other Biblical Prayers (8)

Women in Exodus (8)

Stories of Mary Magdalene (6)

Heroic Prostitutes of the Bible (5)

Esther, the Queen (5)

Seed Parables of Jesus (3)

Exorcism Stories (3)

Ruth, the Moabite (3)

Jesus told the crowds all these things in stories; without a story he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth to speak in stories; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 5:38

Many years ago, when I was Coordinator for the Network of Biblical Storytellers, I used a phrase from Psalm 78:2 as part of the organization’s logo: “I will open my mouth in a story.” Only now did I discover Matthew’s appropriation of Psalm 78:2 in his story of Jesus. Matthew used the Greek word parabolā which we translate “parables” or “stories.”

The parables to which the psalmist and Matthew refer are special stories from a holy source, meant for our spiritual growth. They are sacred stories, which is why we named our Circle of the Word with women in the jail “Sacred Stories.”

There were quite a few people in the waiting area for visitation at the jail this week. I was waiting for my co-Circlekeeper to arrive. I set down my heavy bag of materials, including a supply of Cheryl’s Cookies which I bring every now and then for a treat. Then I decided to sit down myself.

Now I have to make an embarrassing confession. Blame it on being an introvert, or the descendant of Norwegian stock, or because I was in a jail, but I was reluctant to sit down right next to a strange man. So, should I move my bag from where it was two seats down to the chair next to his so I could sit in the chair where the bag had been and not right next to him? Or should I pick up up my bag and go sit elsewhere?

Then I had a WWJD moment.

I sat down next to the man. He asked me, “Are you here to visit someone?” I said no, I was here to lead a program for women. I added, “We tell and teach stories from the Bible. This summer we are doing stories from the Gospel of Luke that feature women. Today we are learning the story of the woman who put two coins in the temple treasury.”

He recalled the story: “That’s the one about the widow who was poor. Jesus praised her saying she gave more than all the rich people.” He told me he had been in prison many years ago. Now he is part of a singing group at his church that goes to prisons in Ohio and Indiana to perform. We weren’t strangers any more.

Nine women came to Circle that day. Since our story was a short one I decided to try something new: invite every woman to tell the story for a cookie. I got out my box of Cheryl’s Cookies. There were nine wonderful, distinctive tellings. I wish I had a recording of them all.

The women filled out a survey at the end of class. They each gave permission to share what they wrote. Here are responses to, “Something I find meaningful about today’s story”:

• The lady giving her all
• It’s ok to put in your all, for Jesus is watching and appreciates it… You will be blessed in the end.
• Even if you don’t have it all together and don’t have nothing to give really, still give
• Jesus protected the widow
• Even the poorest person can be generous and God looks at your offering/gifts the best
• Even if you don’t have much still give
• The widow was taken care of
• Keep faith. God will always provide. And continue to help and give when possible.

The Holy Spirit is alive and active in the Montgomery County Jail. And in case you wondered, they really liked the cookies.

Our first story for the month was the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here are some of the things we wondered about that story and the background info about it which we read-around (see attached doc):

• If it was such a bad place to be, why were the priest and the Levite walking alone with no protection?
• Why didn’t the priest stop? Seems like he’s a man of God, a holy man; you’d think that he would be the one to stop.
• Do they still have temples in Jerusalem?
• Why is he walking down that road in the first place?
• I don’t understand the law about not touching someone who needed help.
• Are the priests supposed to pray for them?

Then there was the question that led to reflection that led to our Circle’s key take-away from this parable that day:

I was just wondering whatever became of the man who came to the inn. Did he get better?…I bet he won’t go down that road again…We should tell ourselves: “Don’t go down that road again!”

We all laughed at this sound wisdom. The spirit at work among us. Gave me a whole new take on this familiar parable.

Lk10_30-35_Good-Sam_about

Today was the second week of our February series of circles on parables of Jesus in Luke. Last week we did the story of the Good Samaritan; this week the parable of the Lost Sheep. We included the context: Jesus’ teachable moment with self-righteous, religious folk who grumbled about him hangin’ with sinners.

We had a full group of fifteen and a lively session, especially when we used the drama bag. Someone suggested it was a body bag, but I said no, it’s a DRAMA bag. Both the drama-bag mime and the volunteer storyteller did a great job.

We passed around our illustrated book of Life in Bible Times so everyone who wanted could read a paragraph. That’s a lot more interesting then one person reading. Plus I noticed how each woman helped the next person find the place to start reading. Such a gentle experience of group care, very dear.

We read the two page spread on shepherds and sheep. There were various references to scriptures where sheep and shepherds are mentioned. I was remembering both Moses and David as shepherds.

For connections, we told “sheep stories” or whatever came to mind in thinking of sheep. There was a wonderful variety of responses. We sorted ourselves into “country girls” who had some first-hand experience of sheep growing up, to “city girls” who only knew them from afar.

Some made spiritual connections like “Lamb of God” and others connected with being like a lost sheep, found and saved by Jesus.

I told about the time a sheep bolted for the barn door between my legs. Another Circlekeeper told how when she was young, she visited family in Indiana who lived on a farm. She asked, “What are those little raisins behind the sheep?” Her cousins got a good laugh out of that.

Several mentioned various unsavory sheep characteristics like their stinky smell, stupidity, and obnoxious vocalizations. Then there was the evil-face sheep that made REALLY loud, ugly noises (somehow that was very funny). Another woman recalled a time when a sheep chased her mother on Coney Island. She didn’t know her mother could move so fast!

On the more positive side, there were reminders of the lanolin of sheep wool that makes the hands of shepherdesses so soft. And the tasty cheese that comes from sheep. Or was that goat cheese?

We could all easily find ourselves in this classic little parable–recalling times when we have been lost, not knowing which way to turn, all alone with regret about how we messed up. I encouraged us all to be confident in God’s steady determination to find us, and bring us home.

Great story; great Circle. Thank you, ladies. Thank you, Jesus.

Wow, it’s almost not the new year any longer. The Journey to Bethlehem series went fine–I didn’t try to capture feedback or storyboards until the final session and then Christmas took over. Will try to post some of that before too many more weeks go by–at least before Lent! Also want to get all those docs in the Stories section. Who knows when. Now working on a Facebook group for women who have been in the class and others interested in joining an online version of Sacred Stories.