(This is from my dear friend, Hal Shrewsbury -- a man busy about the work he loves doing. His report is dated September 30 2010 and it's a privilege for me to put it on my blog this morning.)
Substance Abuse Training Facility:
I visited SATF 4 times where I conducted 8 Bible classes in both the men's and women's sections to 33 attendees, gave away 1 Science and Health and 20 Sentinels. In the men's section a man told of how grateful he was for his family's and girl friend's support, saying they saw more in him than he saw in himself. He has been praying about an anger problem and tells me he sees much progress as he understands how Jesus forgave because "they know not what they do". The women's section has an active group for the classes with new women coming in every week. They were asked to study the story of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua and we discussed how each was a story of man's search for his spiritual identity--the promised land--and how each relates to us today as we journey from sense to Soul for our spiritual identity as the Christ likeness. Like Abraham we must trust God and be renamed, leave Egypt--the slavery of material sense--like Moses, and like Joshua destroy the claims of mortal mind for which the tribes occupying Canaan are metaphors. Introducing the Bible stories as metaphors and allegories is the key which unlocks the Scriptures, making them relevant to ourselves. Even Paul calls the Abraham story an allegory (Gal 4:24). One woman said she didn't want to attend our classes but a voice told her to attend and she feels blessed every time she comes. Another woman who was not released on schedule said the Bible lessons were freeing her from disappointment as she now realizes she could never be separated from God. Several women expressed gratitude for being forgiven by their families for their drug problems. Two women having marital problems reuniting with husbands who are incarcerated found help in the chapter on Marriage in Science and Health where Mrs. Eddy reiterates Jesus' words, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." One of the staff members whose father recently passed away asked for prayers and received help by recalling all the good things about her father and knowing those qualities can never die.
Juvenile Hall:
I visited the hall 4 times where I conducted 9 Bible classes to 31 attendees and gave away 1 Bible. With each unit I focus on how to listen to God, based on Jesus' command to "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48) and then go to the Ten Commandments and Jesus' summary: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. When introduced to listening to God, one boy excitedly opened his Bible to Philippians 4:8 where it says, "Whatsoever things are true...think on these things" whic he had just read the night before. I have been impressed with the childlike receptivity the youngsters have to a God who knows only good, but have also encountered those who can't accept a God who only knows good because of being schooled in the literal interpretation rather than the spiritual understanding of the Bible. Occasionally, I enter the unit where girls with self-destructive problems are clothed with padded jackets to prevent them from harming themselves. Sometimes a girl will be eating lunch and not be appearing to listen although she will ask for the Bible class. One girl wearing such a jacket did listen and told me she sometimes became angry and did not want to live. Last week I found her in the "normal" girls' unit and as we discussed listening to God, I asked her how she was doing. She spent some several minutes excitedly telling us she is no longer angry and doesn't want to kill herself because she knows God loves her and she has a lot to live for!
