Gathered to dream,
to discern,
to plan
the 2010 Peacemaking Seminar,
good folks,
good time,
good event.
27 October 2009
P is for Planning
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
Execution in Texas
Again I am late.
The state of Texas executed Rodrigo Hernandez on Thursday, January 26. The state convicted him of sexually assaulting and strangling Susan Verstegen in 1994, leaving her body in a San Antonio trash can.
DNA evidence tied Hernandez to the brutal crime. Evidence also linked him to a 1991 murder in Michigan. One report says he confessed to both murders before his execution.
I grieve for Susan Verstegen – for her mother and son – for all who grieve for her.
I wonder at a judicial system that failed to identify Hernandez as a killer and remove him from circulation in an efficient manner. But life imprisonment would serve that purpose. His execution by the state leaves me wondering why we believe that killing people demonstrates that killing is wrong.
See you along the Trail.
Related articles
- Killer confessed minutes before execution (mysanantonio.com)
Filed under Capital Punishment, Death Penalty
A reprieve in Texas
Again I am late.
The CBS affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth reports that Donald Newbury received a reprieve on Wednesday, January 25. Newbury was scheduled to die in Texas on die February 1 for his part in the fatal shooting of a Dallas-area police officer. Justice Antonin Scalia granted the reprieve.
Newbury was part of a gang that “engineered the biggest prison escape in Texas history, overpowering workers at a prison in Kenedy, about 60 miles south of San Antonio, in December 2000. They stole the workers’ clothes, broke into the prison armory to get guns and drove away in a prison truck. They robbed two Houston-area stores and then, on Christmas Eve, shot an Irving police officer when he interrupted their robbery of a sporting goods store.”
One of the group – the Texas Seven – Larry James Harper committed suicide when authorities captured the group. The state of Texas executed Michael Anthony Rodriguez in 2008. Newbury, who has expressed remorse at the killing, would have been the second executed.
On Christmas Eve, 2000, police officer Aubrey Hawkins responded to a call concerning a robbery. The group ambushed Officer Hawkins as he did his duty.
I grieve for Aubrey Hawkins and pray for all who mourn his death.
But executing those who killed him will not bring him back, will serve no purpose but revenge, and will further establish the culture of violence.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Capital Punishment, Death Penalty
O is for Outdoors
The beauty of Ghost Ranch
leads people to want to spend
as much time outdoors as possible.
The Youth Service Corps
rebuilt the outdoor amphitheater
where the community gathers for worship.
25 October 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
79th Street smile
Headphones surrounding her ears
like metal rubber earmuffs,
she leaned her head against the car wall,
eyes securely shut.
Seeking sleep?
Pursuing escape from the noise of the 1 train?
Concentrating?
The train jerked to a stop at 79th;
her eyes fluttered and opened.
For an instant, our eyes connected.
I smiled.
I always smile.
For an instant,
an even briefer instant,
a nano-instant?
a tiny smile danced across her face until,
as if she realized what she was doing,
the smile turned wry,
she squeezed her eyes tightly shut,
and sank further into her seat.
I looked away as the train pulled from the station.
3 February 2012
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem
E is for Ed
From Ghost Ranch’s Facebook page:
We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our director of education & program yesterday morning, Ed DeLair. Thank you all, for your kind words and sentiments.
Services will be held Monday, February 6, at 10:30 a.m. at the Agape Center at Ghost Ranch. A gathering for lunch will follow in the dining hall.
Please keep his wife Becky and their four children, Eddie, Tom, Will and Eva in your prayers.
Son Eric, who worked at Ghost Ranch this past summer and knew Ed, shared the news with me via a text. Not wanting to believe, I fired a text of denial back to Eric. After some searching, it became clear that I should not have doubted. And then the news from the ranch itself.
Through tears that clouded my heart, an image emerged: a bright July morning, Ed standing outside the Dining Hall, Kitchen Mesa bursting with sun, steam 
rising from the coffee cup held in his hand, a big smile on his face.
Ed and I met in Israel. He took part in a travel-study seminar to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories organized by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. The picture shows him with his presbytery team on that trip. That’s pretty much the same smile he had on the July morning in New Mexico. Actually, that’s pretty much the same smile he always had on his face.
Over the years we bumped into each other at various places around the denomination. Most recently, we had several conversations at Ghost Ranch this past July. Clearly Ed was where he wanted to be, where he was supposed to be. And now, for reasons I cannot explain, he is not.
Many words come to mind to describe Ed – you can see a lot of them on his Facebook page – on the Ghost Ranch Facebook page:
Good
Kind
Decent
Committed
Caring
Solid (mutual friend Bob Brashear uses that one; it fits)
Competent
Faithful
Faith-filled
I grieve for Ed’s family and friends.
I grieve for the Ghost Ranch staff and the extended Ghost Ranch community.
I grieve for all who have been torn by Ed’s death – all who mourn.
I pray that they have already experienced the grace of God sustaining them and the love of family and friends supporting them as they walk this shadowed valley. I pray they continue to do so.
And I give thanks for the life and love and witness of Ed DeLair who lived – lived well and lived fully.
To paraphrase the Presbyterian service of Witness to the Resurrection: “Even in the face of death – death that comes too soon – we make our song: alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
Young legs on the ground
I have known for some time that, in moments of need and crisis, Tricia and I can count on Sean and Eric to come through. They have done so. Again and again, they have done so.
Yet no matter how long I have known, I still experience a thrill of elation each time it happens. It did so again yesterday.
My mother is hospitalized following surgery on a broken hip. She faces another couple days in the hospital, then a couple weeks of rehabilitation. My stepfather and aunt provide her support network. They have told us again and again that no one needs to come.
I believe that they mean that. But as I thought about what they face – traveling to the hospital, keeping their places clean, buying groceries and other supplies, shoveling snow should that come, caring for my mother, and caring for themselves, it became clear to me that, no matter what they say, they could use some help.
And as I thought about who might provide that help, I thought of Eric. He graduated in December and currently is among the many seeking a job. He has some options, but nothing definite yet. For a while he had stayed in Cleveland; ten days or so ago he went back to Bowling Green where he has an apartment through the summer. He could go to Pennsylvania, I realized. He could provide “young legs on the ground.”
I talked over the idea with Tricia who agreed. I then tried to call my aunt. She did not answer and she has not set up her phone for voice mail. I then called Eric. He did not answer, but he does have his phone set to receive voice mail. I asked him to call me back.
A short time later, Eric called. I explained my idea.
He took all of about 2.41 seconds to think before he said, “I could do that.” We talked about what it would look like and when he could get to Pennsylvania. I said I needed to talk to my aunt and I would get back to him when I did.
After hanging up with Eric, I called her again. She answered. I said I thought Eric should visit for a while – an indefinite period at this point. She agreed.
Today, Eric drove from Bowling Green to Cleveland. Tomorrow, he plans to head to Pennsylvania. Young legs on the ground.
I have known for some time that, in moments of need and crisis, Tricia and I can count on Sean and Eric to come through. Yet no matter how long I have known, I still experience a thrill of elation each time they do. Eric did so yesterday. Sean will do so when his turn comes.
See you along the Trail.
N is for Newsprint
Not the most ecological,
and that wonders one a bit,
but some times
and some tasks
require creativity
and a hard copy.
27 October 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch People
M is for Making Merry
Many a soul
has enjoyed
many a good time.
17 July 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch People
