You Don't Have To Wait Much Longer

God works in strange and mysterious ways. I came face-to-face with this truth when I interviewed a prisoner a couple of days ago.

You wouldn't want to encounter the likes of inmate "M" on the streets. His body is marked with "13" and "XIII", branding him as a Sureno and he sports a teardrop under his left eye. Influenced by an uncle, his gang affiliation began in San Antonio, Texas, at age 11. His family moved to southwest Detroit where the Surenos and Latin Counts are bloody rivals seeking respect by waging war in the streets. In the past month alone I have seen over a dozen members of these gangs from this area committed to the state prison for violent, gang-motivated crimes including homicide.

On one level I can understand the bitter rivalry. As we approach the back stretch of the midterm elections, I'm reminded how politically polarized we've become. For the time being the electorate seems content to wage its war in the voting booth, but if candidates don't emerge who can speak a unifying language that can bridge our perceived differences and lead us to stand on common ground, red state-blue state and liberal-conservative could become the Hatfields-McCoys. It has been refreshing to see Illinois senator Barack Obama on the cover of Time magazine and speaking on Oprah and Larry King this past week. He is the one politician to come around in a long time who steps away from the polarizing rhetoric and presents issues in an inclusive way.

I guess in the end what is taking place in southwest Detroit, the streets of Bagdad and in the political ads playing on television is a mirror in which we can see our own reflection. Does it make us uncomfortable? When you talk to him, "M" realizes gang culture hasn't been worth the cost. He and his wife lost a 3 month old daughter in the bullet spray of a drive-by shooting into their home a couple of years ago.

"M" is Catholic and my having been ordained a Catholic priest in 1982 lent a spiritual tone to the interview. He related how, despite being happily married and in love with his wife and newborn son, he feels restless inside and had begun to turn to alcohol to escape his pain. There are many ways we go about anesthetizing that restlessness. Until being prescribed Byetta three and a half weeks ago, my personal drug of convenience if not choice or utility was food.

At the end of the interview, after "M" had journeyed down some difficult personal paths with me and shed a few tears, he paused. He looked me in the eye and said, very sincerely, "The Holy Spirit told me to tell you this. You won't have to wait much longer."

Yes, God does work in strange and mysterious ways. Could he have chosen "M" to deliver a message intended for me? Why would he choose a gang member and a convict as his emissary? The funny thing is, the message does speak to me in a number of ways and despite the lips from which it was delivered, I welcomed and needed to hear that message.

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