Monthly Archives: March 2018

This Easter will be different for my family. On March 13 my Mom, Shirley Schenewerk died. She had been in a dementia care facility since last summer and had been fighting a losing battle with dementia for several years. I was travelling to Tucson to see her and my dad when dad called with the news of her passing. I was in Wickenberg, AZ – a place and time I will remember for the rest of my life.

I finished the drive that morning and arrived in Tucson. Later that evening/early the next morning my sister arrived. Wednesday, March 14 began the rush of events I’ve assisted countless families with as a pastor. Visiting the funeral home, seeing my Mom one last time, making arrangements for my wife and my brother to get to Tucson. Phone calls to alert family and friends. Visits to the Social Security office, calls to insurance companies, banks, and so on. Wednesday afternoon Cindy arrived and planning for the Memorial Service began in earnest. Those days flew by – though there were times of disbelief and bewilderment. Could Mom really be gone? I had last seen her in July 2017 and though she did not recognize me I knew that would be the last time I saw her this side of eternity,

Sunday finally came – and on Saturday I developed a post surgical infection from an oral surgery that had been performed in January – and we gathered with friends and family in the clubhouse of the Mobile Home Park where Dad and Mom have lived since 1998. I shared a few facts and memories (I promise to record in writing soon and share them with family). The pastor of their church shared a brief message of hope from the 23rd Psalm. We laughed, cried, and ate! Certainly was a Baptist gathering!

Monday, March 19 Cindy and I drove away from Tucson and arrived home late on March 20. These past few days have been filled with Easter planning and preparation – both at home and at the church I serve.

Much remains the same, but much has changed.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Bryan Stevenson

New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015

“The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.”^[1]

Part personal memoir, part the account of one man’s journey from death row to freedom, and part expose on a confused and uncertain justice system this book will likely change how think about the purpose of our justice system. From the author’s definition of poverty as the opposite not of wealth by the opposite of justice (18) I was hooked and could hardly put the book down.

The author’s personal encounter with wrongfully convicted death row inmates leads to a discovery that changed how he viewed the world. He invites his readers to join him on this journey with vivid prose as he tells the story of person after person who experienced the worst our justice system can do. He shares statistics that reveal how confused our justice system has become and how difficult real justice can be to find. Weaving the strands of his own journey, the journey of Walter McMillan, and several juveniles arrested and housed in adult prisons with observations about how the justice system works for some but not all make for compelling reading.

There are two observations after reading. First, I was simply unaware of how grossly unfair our justice system had become under the ‘Jim Crow’ system on the South and how deeply entrenched that system had become. I have spent over 40 years living the Pacific Northwest and was blissfully ignorant of how unjust the system had become to people of color and any group marginalized by systemic abuse, poverty, and injustice.

Second, I was reminded again of the power of one individual with a dream and a passion. Most of us – myself included – may never impact the culture as Bryan Stevenson has, but with a dream and a passion we can make a difference – even if it is for just one person.

[1] https://eji.org/about-eji, accessed on 3/6/18.