I visited Ray on August 22 at the Madison Correctional Institution. As many of you know, Ray spent 38 years in a single cell on Death Row. He is safe from the rampant resumption of executions and is quite happy to be at this incentive based correctional facility.

Ray is now 70 years old. He has lost most of his sight in his right eye. He has been promised cataract surgery, but they don’t tell him when. He is awaiting a stress test for his heart. He had bypass surgery two years ago, and he says his back is fine as long as he doesn’t have to stand too long. He has a roller walker with a seat, which he keeps with him.

As always, Ray smiles and has a positive outlook on his life. He continues to be part of art classes and spends every day drawing. He is able to roam the campus as much as his walker allows. He was an athlete once upon a time. Now he enjoys watching softball. He says the inmates don’t have a lot of softball experience, so they look a bit like the Bad News Bears. Church groups visit and play them, and usually win. Interestingly, the prison also has pickleball, which he watches.

A few buildings, the art classroom, chapel, library, and maybe cafeteria are air conditioned. His dorm is not, but he does not complain. There are several huge stand-up fans. They have a cold water fountain. Both, he says, are big improvements over Death Row.

One of the things he enjoys, part of our contribution to him, is the canteen, where he buys packages of Crystal Light, which he mixes with the water from the cold water fountain, and sips under the shade of a nearby oak.

We ended our visit with Psalms 23 and 46, the latter of which ends, “Be still and know that I am God.”  Being with him is always a moment of grace. He sends his thanks and blessings to you, and when I am with him, I bring your presence, a body of faith and love, to be with him.

                                                                   Larry