I had this really thought-provoking and intriguing post that I had planned on putting up tonight; it was a post that was sure to inspire and anger, to irritate and fluster; a post that would cut you all to the quick, and make you all write responses that were both insightful and honest, responses that would fully address the state of the human condition.

But, instead I thought I'd put this...




There she is...my little blessing from above. Grace: Unmerited Favor.

Yup.

Thanks for stopping by...

Tommy

A seemingly random post...

So, through a seemingly connected string of events, I've had something odd on my mind lately. And, with an explanation as prologue, I have a question for all of you. Perhaps this will repeat my hit post of last season on education, perhaps not.

Here it is.

Over the summer, Bibi and I watched the show Deadwood, which was about a town with no law and no order. Well, no LEGAL order.

Now we're watching the show "Oz" on DVD. It's about prisoners, guards, and the entire correctional system.

A couple of years ago, I read a book, the title completely escapes me, but it was a collection of essays written by prisoners, many of whom were jailed for political reasons, but not all.

When I was in college I did prison ministry with my college religous organization, CCF. We went to a maximum security prison in Iowa a couple of times to meet with prisoners in a new religiously-affiliated prison rehabiliation program.

And, the most randomly connected experience, I have been in training for two weeks for the discipline system at my school.

All of these things call to mind the question that I put forth to you, my faithful readers, now...
What, in your opinion, should the goal or purpose of the Prison System in the United States be? Should our goal be punishent? Should our goal be entirely punitive? Or should we focus our energies on rehabilitation? And, if, as I suspect many of you will feel, it should be a mixture of these two goals, how in the world do you suggest we do that?

A couple of stats to start us off:
1 in 27 people in the United States is either in prison right now, or has spent time in prison. The recidivism rate for offenders is 75%. (Incidently, the rate is identical for students who have been suspended in the public school system; 75% of those who have been suspended are suspended more than once.)

So...there you go. What say you, blog-readers?

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to your responses...

Tommy

Procrasti-what now?

EDITED: With Pictures!!!

So, I must confess, loyal reader, that the reason I haven't posted in almost three weeks is not entirely due to my hectic schedule and the ninety five meetings I have to go to each day....er, uh...week. I've been avoiding posting because I set the expectation during my last post that I was going to post about books this time around.

Note: I just checked my last blog, and I actually didn't mention anything about books, so apparently that was just an internal expectation, so...uh, I guess I have no decent excuse. My bad.

Anywho, for those who know me, or who have read the beginnings of this blog, you will know that I am somewhat of a reader...I like to read a bit. Ok, well, a lot. So, the idea of making an informal list called my "must list" of books, is a bit like John Cusack's character in High Fidelity making the ultimate mix tape. It can't be done. However, I'm going to try and suck it up here and put down at least the outline, or preliminary sketch of what my 'must-list' of books would be.

So, with that priviso in place, here we go...:

First, we're going to go with "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore. I know I've mentioned this author, and this book on this blog before, but it bears mentioning again. He's good. More to the point, that book cannot be described as good, because that would be like saying that Frank Lloyd Wright liked to tinker around with building stuff. Saying that "Lamb" is good is like saying that Jesse Owens was fast. It's like saying that I occasionally drink coffee. It just doesn't even come close to the level the book actually achieves. I'm not using hyperbole here, I'm just trying to speak truth. In fact, while this book does not replace the Bible, I would say that any Christian who wants to come to a clearer understanding of who Christ could have been, should read this book. Period.

Second, we're going with Blue Highways, by William Least Heat-Moon. This is the book that inspired my road trip a few years ago. It is the book that Jack Kerouac was TRYING to write, and didn't. The way I usually describe it is this: Heat-Moon was a professor at Missou in the 70's, and got laid off. So, he got in his little bus, and drove all around the country on the "blue highways" (non-major roads). Along the way he meets people, sees the country, and goes through his own internal journey. Heat-moon was a professor of English, so he brings a myriad literary illusions to his work, and he is Native American, and he brings to his work a certain level of natural spirituality that connects the mundane (driving all around the country) to the spiritual. (Put another way, he connects the profane--that which is NOT holy--to the sacred--that which is holy.) Go...read it. (And, John...if you still read this blog...you actually have my copy, so seriously, you have no excuse not to read this book, ok?)

Third, and lastly for this post, Watership Down, by Richard Adams. This is ostensibly a book about bunnies. However, unless you're as dense as a post, you'll understand that this is more of a retelling of the exodus than an rabbit tale.

Ok. I'm tired...it's late, and I have work in the morning. So, I'm going to go to bed. I promise you that I will update again, and I will have more books that you should read at that time. In the meantime, though, if you would like to add to my list of musts, be it must listens, must sees, or must reads, please do so in the comments. I'd love to hear 'em.

Til then...here are some pictures of Grace, courtesy of Bibi's blog...














Thanks for stopping by.



Tommy