ETERNITY

Father, take my hand and lead,
Wherever we are going.
This path is not one I would choose;
I cry inside, not knowing,

How did we ever drift apart?
Why did I go astray,
Too proud to call out for help,
When lost along the way?

I bear the scars of foolish pride,
Now weary from the race.
I need you to guide me through this time,
At a gentler pace.

We'll take it slow and stop to rest;
I'll read your story through.
We'll talk, I'll listen, and then I'll know
What you want me to do.

I'll yield to you, my Father-God,
My Lord, and yet, my friend,
We'll make it home, together, where
Eternity begins.


J. Wallace

Easter Prayer

Easter is here again, a time when we celebrate Jesus's sacrifice, His proof of an Afterlife, and His promise of Heaven. I imagine that I am not the only Christian that prays daily for His return. What better time for this to happen than Passover Week, the week God chose for the original Easter for many good reasons. Could His merciful deliverance be demonstreated once again, once and for all, for His suffering children during our most significant observance?

The most "humane" facility in Florida's DOC System (comparatively) is still a place of misery for this Christian, hence the name of this blog, "Purgatory Penman." I'm surrounded almost every waking moment by terrible examples of mankind given over to evil, a glimpse of hell for a normal, moral human being (I'm eternally grateful that is is the only hell I'll ever know). Although Jesus is always with me, this Paul does not have a Silas. It is a lonliness that aches in the core of your being like a cancer--an actual source of constant physical pain. Elements persecuting me because of the politics of my case have not relented in nine years of incarceration. I could not escape their abuse through eleven different camps. How many Christians today live like this where every day is a challenge to survive and see it through to the end, pleading with the Lord to deliver in an honorable and timely fashion?

Please pray that Jesus returns soon and rescues His people from the corruption. I understand that such evil beings and deeds are rampant in our society throughout the greater world today, like we have never known before.

Please appeal to the Lord's infinite mercy, demonstrated by His willingness to give His own life to save us from sin, that He will intercede now and save us from an unimaginable future. Amen.





J. Wallace

Fellowship Finale

As our time is running out, the Christian community should stick together. If someone has repented of his sins and has accepted Jesus as the Son of God, Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit into his life, regardless of his past or subtle doctrinal differences, he is a brother or sister in Christ. Our different heritages or origins as Christians are not enough to keep us from each other.

It is common knowledge within Christian circles that in the "End Times," evil will prosper and the good will be persecuted. Today, which churches and doctrines are prospering financially and growing in numbers, and whose numbers have been decimated by scandal, whose members are suffering? Catholics and Protestants have been at odds to varying degrees off and on since the Reformation. Why, if their basic gospel message is the same? If Catholics want to revere Mary as the mother of Jesus, just as almost everyone of us reveres his own mother, what is the harm? The psychological dynamics of the matter seem to be the same. No individual member is responsible for what his/her church hierarchy or administration decides or does. Why do we hold him/her responsible? As Jesus's representatives, who are the suffering brothers and sisters we are to be ministering to as Christians? They are right in our neighborhoods, their churches down the block.

Why do we allow imagined conflicts and affronts seperate and concern us when Jesus has already won the Victory? Let's not waste any more time at a point when it is so precious.

J. Wallace

CAT (a Literary Club assignment)

*In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet.

She lies on her side on the new quilted bedspread, legs tucked underneath as if asleep. I know she's not by the way she moves two green eyes, narrow slits ignoring my presence. She turns onto her stomach while stretching out her limbs to clutch the soft, downy cover, stretching with a low purr, confident she has my full attention. I stroke with one hand from her shoulders down her spine as slowly as possible, barely touching, knowing from experience the demands of her pleasure. She responds nonchalantly, gradually arching her back, then raising her hips at the end to meet my hand, pushing hard against it as if to say, "You dare to disturb my solitude?"

Sometimes, I feel like I'm just a source of sustenance to her, a warm place out of the rain. But that can't be true; why does she stay when anyone3 could provide her with what I provide?

She was on her own a long time before I took her in, a creature bound by instinct and self-preservation with a hard-luck past. No wonder she finds people untrustworthy. I believe that she loves me even if she is still unable to show it. Our time together must mean something to her. For now, I'll settle for just the mystery of our companionship: Why this exotic beauty chose me to ease her troubles; how she unespectedly came to help me forget out of the lamplight.

She leans close and whispers, "You're the only one who understands."

* from the musical
Cats.

J. Wallace