Early release, wearing masks, lockdowns, halting visits, and prayer — Inmates from various states write to me. Chet from Cotton Correctional Center in Jackson, Michigan told that there were five inmates and two staff sick with COVID-19, and one inmate had died. He is from Detroit, so he’s aware of how badly that city has been affected. Chet lives in…

Love of Writing Unlocks Success — While he was addicted to drugs, Curtis Dawkins killed a man in a botched robbery. Now he serves a life sentence in Michigan without the possibility of parole. But, before he committed his crime, Curtis Dawkins earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. …

Sending love in an envelope — Why do I have a prison ministry? No one in my family has spent time in prison or worked for a department of corrections facility. My uncle Bill was a police officer who spent his last 15–20 years behind a desk because of excessively violent behavior on the street. In…

Two spiritual traditions come together to bless our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated — After a year, I assumed leadership of the community letter-writing program at Amma’s Center in San Ramon, CA. That volunteer effort is now called Circle of Love Letters. There were willing letter writers, but all the people we had been writing had gotten better, cheered up or adjusted, and didn’t…