0006 Prayer For The Condemned Comments

A topic that scales far beyond Life in prison vs Death sentence for the ultimate offender.Your piece reveals the wavering process of just about all of us politically, ethically.and emotionally.Some talk big, and tough when they hear about a heinous crime & how it should be handled.Then execution day arrives and we all watch the Vigils for the condemned, & CNN on last hour Death Watch, and suddenly it becomes more than human for us to question the Eye 4 an Eye theory...But in the end... good or bad...right or wrong...We all have execution dates...We just (in most cases) are luckily not privied to there whens & hows...This is AWESOME WORK Michael.''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''fjr

If Ego is always present, we are human afterall, Miguelito, then Romans 8: 26 perhaps, way back from my 'Fundy' days as the daughter of a Southern Baptist Mama and a former high school Sunday School teacher, myself, still rings true: 'And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself [or Herself] intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words[...]' I always find comfort in this verse when I am scared, confused, struggling with the ambiguities in my heart over something that has too many sides to it...and I find God....in the quietest part of myself telling me to be true to what is good and right. I pray for both the 'condemned' and the 'condemner' - for as long as I have breath. This is a lovely poem. I'm so glad I gave it a chance to grow inside my heart and clear my mind. Thanks.

You pose a very interresting question in this marvelous poem. I do pray for many things. I have spun this in my mind, and have decided that I shall pray for the victim instead! 10.

As I move closer and closer to my own 'end cell, ' I too wonder what to pray for. I know I need to pray for justice, but that scares me to death, so I think I'll pray for mercy instead. This is one of your best, Michael, and I shall treasure it and re-read it many times. Scarlett

This is one evocative piece of work! Well done!

prayer for these who are innocent and god only knows those ones. for those who are not, a lifer and a prayer; not even us 'free' people can dodge consequences. anyway yes, this made me think. i heard somone say once that praying helps us too. I would agree.. ~kelly