Page 8 Portland Observer November 8. 1979
Behind the Wall
by Larry Baker »35021
O.S.P. Correspondent
A PHOENIX VISITS OSP
By Dave M right
When Chuck Colson firs t ap
peared as a born again Christian, the
nation was shocked. I he conversion
wa' exposed alter a prayer-breaklast
at tf White House in December ol
1974. The headlines were disastrous.
C ritics were devastating. “ II he
(Colson) isn’ t etnbarassed by this
sudden excess o f piety, then surely
the I ord must be (C olumnist Harriet
Van Horn). If Colson can repent his
sins, then there just has to be hope
lo r everybody (Boston Globe). I
hope He ((.hrist) can save your butt
now, because I can’ t. I his (the con
version)... must be the dirtiest trick
you've ever pulled...they ought to
indict you lor it (Colson's attorney,
Dave Shapiro).
I he most crushing blow must have
come from Wendell Colson, already
pressured at college by the ac
cusations against Ins father. When he
was informed o f his lather’s conver
sion he said: “ Oh no! Dad's a Jesus
freak.”
By then it was too late. A new
man had come to life, born Ironr the
most wicked manipulator in politics.
Some people, seeing Colson's sin
cerity, praised him. Eric Severeid
devoted an entire commentary to
( olson's conversion. Bill Greider ot
the W ashington Post, C olson’ s
sworn enemy, published the lirs t
sympathetic view o f Colson’ s new
wav o f life. I he nation’ s C hristians
prayed fo r him , sending letters
welcoming a brother and praising
Ciod. A m arine s ta ff sergeant,
Nathaniel Greene, sinner and con
fessed alcoholic, was touched by
Colson’ s conversion and wrote him
of Ins decision to attend church, give
up booze and praise those who con
fessed their sins. "T his letter said it
a ll," Colson wrote in Horn Again.
As the indictm ent proceedings
progressed, Colson journeyed
through a maze o f legalities and
c ritic a l attacks, standing firm ,
assuming the burdens of his past.
Iro n ic a lly , at another prayer-
breaklast, C olson made the decision
to plead guilty. After a hearing and
sentencing he was escorted to
H o la b ird Arm y Base, a federal
detention center, and the lofty locks
o f a man were hum bled, the
haul mess bowed down, fin ally, soon
after the death o f his father, federal
marshals escorted him to Maxwell
f ederal Prison C amp, Dormitory G,
and numbered him 23226.
I wonder il sergeant Greene’s let
ter was in Colson’ s mind that lowly
night he asked him self and God
about starting a prison m inistry,
visiting the world’ s prisons, and at
tending to the applause o f fellow
convicted felons. This sequence o f
events from the rebirth to incar
’
David Crawford »39830
Assistant Correspondent
ceration is summarized, in a sense,
by John D ryden's early poem
alluding to the Phoenix, a bird that
resurrected itself to a new life and
disposed o f the old.
the law, we, too, can see our past
consume in fragrant (lames.
As a final contrast, the Phoenix
had a peculiar reproductive cycle.
Only one o f the magnificent birds
could exist at any given time. U nfor
tunately, Mr. Colson, in view o f the
pipe dreams you have expressed, the
skeptical public must thank God
only one Chuck Colson can exist
durin g these troubled years, one
needed to keep things in perspective;
but, one that if let loose in great
number, might pressure our society
to self-destruct by disregarding men
tal health and relying only on the
power o f Christ.
You did make several points,
though, one being restitution.
Our
HTtezi the newborn Phoenix firs t is
seen,
His feathered subjects all adorn
their King,
And while he makes his progress
through the Last,
fro m every grove his numerous
tram's increased;
Each poet o f the air his glory sings
A nd around him the pleased
audience clap their wings.
Chuck Colson discusses prison m eeting w ith Larry Baker.
Wednesday, October 24, Chuck
Colson appeared at OSP to be ap
plauded by the clapping wings o f
felons gathered from every grove of
society, feathered subjects adorning
A king, a felon, reborn from him
self, singing the glo ry o f biblical
prose. I he Class o f Legal Processes,
sponsors o f the campaign, sat patien
tly in the co n tro l center awaiting
Colson-already twenty minutes late.
A procession o f invited p o litic a l,
ju d ic ia l, and social groups filed
through, and then came Colson.
His smile was warming, but com
pared to his picture on the cover o f
Horn Again the more prominent bags
under his eyes and even saggier dim
ples clearly indicated not the Chuck
Colson I expected, one touched by
the H oly S p irit and somewhat
rejuvenated, but one tired and
weary, the crusades having taken
their to ll. During his introduction
and speech, this analogy between the
Phoenix and Chuck Colson came
together.
His reign as assistant to Nixon,
Colson to ld the class, dwelt on
materialism as a way o f life, years o f
prosperity, W hite House dinners,
limousines, mansions, and chartered
planes. The Phoenix, too, fed not on
ordinary fruit and flowers, but, ac
cording to H erdodtus, fed on
frankincense and odiferous gums.
Colson told us o f climbing to the
top o f the political ladder, secured in
a nest o f adamant governmental
supremacy, surrounded by am
bassadors, attorneys, and the
president. The Phoenix also
prepared a nest as it reached
maturity, a lair in the branches o f a
mighty oak, composed o f cinnamon,
spikenard, and tn vrrh . U n fo r
tunately, in this b u lw a rk, the
Phoenix drew its last breath, died,
and from its body a new creature
emerged, a babe, young, and with
one objective in mind: to dispose o f
the body from which it has issued.
We asked Colson how lie dealt
w ith his past, the hatchet-man
image, and the ex-con status. He
thought a moment and explained
that it’s carried with him, to be ac
cepted, rejected, or criticize d, a
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superintendent suggests certainty o f
punishm ent. In c o n ju n c tio n , I
suggest certainty o f objectives, be
they include restitution, length o f in
carceration, vocational or academic
training, or even regularly scheduled
prayer-breakfasts.
The Phoenix left OSP carrying his
burden, b u ild in g the strength he
needs to see his past consumed in the
frig h t fo r human d ig n ity . Pipe
dreams or possibilities, o nly
tomorrow will tell. One thing is cer
tain, though. Whatever questions
were left un-answered, Chuck
Colson’s work to bring to light the
inconsistencies in the prisons o f
America w ill help him in his fight to
rise from the ashes o f the past.
"We should behave to friends as we would wish friends
to behave to us."
Aristotle
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Chuck Colson addresses inm ates and visitors.
bright key opening the doors for his
campaign and prison reform, and a
burden, too, at tunes one difficult to
bear; but, nevertheless, one he can
not escape. The Phoenix burdened
itself with myrrh which, ironically,
was used in medicine, embalming,
and perfume, making frequent jo u r
neys, building up the strength to
carry its progenitor’ s body to the
altar o f the sun to be consumed by
fragrant Hanies. Is this M i. Colson's
objective: to build strength carrying
the burden o f his past oi l to be con
sumed in fragrant flames o f illum in
ation? Someone once said if you
want to see the scum o f the earth,
stand outside a prison during the
changing o f the guard, (however, af
ter having spent two years inside
these walls, I might add there are
some sincere individuals in guard
uniforms). Or, come inside and meet
society’ s social deviates; spend the
day and fraternize w ith visiting
citizens, the guest judicial, political,
and social groups, people who care
and devote hours toward inmate in
terests. See this prison as a source ol
light, a sun, illum inating the most
respected and most rejected of
society, an excellent altar to consume
the sacrifice o f a hatchet-man and
begin a new life o f reform, wholeness
and Christian attitude.
Mr. Colson, I believe your burden
is heavy-heavier than most could
bear. But you have increased the
strain by reaching for the tnoon, un
willing to accept even Skylab. f irst,
you commented that 80 percent o f
incarcerated felons should be
released to community corrections. I
challenge you to accept the respon
sibility and flak for the release o f the
80 percent set free in society under
any program. Seen from the eyes o f
public partisans it ’ s a pipe dream,
visions o f cions disguised as myrrh.
Second, you responded to one in
mate’ s question about religion and
mental health in a skirting manner,
expressing disdain, in so many wor
ds, fo r confidence in.p4 ychiatric
care. However, Bill Glass, during his
crusade at OSP last month, respond
ed this way: "M ental health without
religion is hum anism ; religion
without mental health is psychosis!"
Furthermore, your suggestion to
release only non-violent first offen
ders is an unconscious advocation
for mental health in itself. “ Non
v io le n t” and “ firs t o ffe n d e r"
defined in general enough terms to
include 80 percent o f the prison
population would be a contemptuous
closeting o f the need fo r mental
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health.
And last, you said 99 percent o f
the prisoners were people you would
have as friends. Again, Mr. Colson,
a m an’ s associates are the fuel
feeding the coals o f law ful behavior,
or, on the other hand, feeding the
sparks o f criminal desire. The "d o
your own thing" attitude o f the six
ties, you explained, has permeated
the seventies.
This statement, in my opinion, is a
misrepresentation o f fact. Wc spend
less time doing our own thing than
we do succumbing to peer-group
pressure. I his pressure initiated the
do your own thing a ttitu d e s, a
sociological fact. We are not strong
enough to completely govern our
own desires. I clt to associate men
and women o f strength, those con
cerned w ith guiding men tow ard
righteousness and capable o f
manipulating life without violating
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EXODUS
NOVEMBER
FOLLOW-THROUGH
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Author of the Follow-Through Concept