One Year Later - Prayers for those in Solitary

In advance of Torture Awareness Month in June 2014, NRCAT and its partners issued a national call for people of faith to compose and share prayers for all who remain in conditions of isolated confinement, and in remembrance of the significance of the one year anniversary of the historic peaceful prisoner hunger strike throughout California prisons which began July 8, 2013 with more than 30,000 participating. The national response to the call for prayer was moving and overwhelming, with more than one hundred prayers submitted in a matter of days. The message is clear: people of faith stand with all who have risked their lives in work for peace and unity.  The prayers share an urgent call for restorative justice and an end to the cruel and inhumane treatment of long-term isolation, and for an end to systems and practices that sow division and distrust. 

On Thursday, June 26, 2014 on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, advocates met with the California Department of Corrections (CDCR). Representatives of California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC) brought stories of families whose loved ones have been locked under the torture of solitary confinement - some of them for decades. News coverage is available here.

The clergy delegation delivered hundreds of prayers cards submitted by people from diverse faith traditions nationwide, to be distributed to incarcerated people who remain in long-term isolation. Faith leaders echoed the family members’ calls for an end to torture in California prisons, and included: Rev. Ron Stief, executive director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Rabbi David Cooper on behalf of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Basim Ekarra, executive director of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Rev. Phillip Lawson, pastor emeritus, Easter Hill United Methodist Church, Richmond, California, Debbie McDermott, Associate Director for Restorative Justice at California Catholic Conference, and Laura Magnani, Program Director, Healing Justice, American Friends Service Committee San Francisco Office.

californiaclergyjune2014  familiesjune2014sacramento 

The spirit of this interfaith and nationwide effort extends to all who remain in solitary confinement and we invite you to submit a prayer for California prisoners who remain in isolation one year after their hunger strike. We invite you to submit a prayer from your faith tradition, in Spanish or English or the sacred language of your religious tradition, emailing your prayer to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , subject line: Prayer One Year Later.

Download this hardcopy version to submit prayers for distribution in your congregation or community.

Click here for more information about the Hunger Strike. 

"I think I know what it feels like"
I once was unbearably lonely in a foreign country. 
I went to work, but had no friends.
I invited people to my home, but they never invited me back.
I spent an hour on the telephone to the USA every day even if I had nothing to say.
It was the hardest half year of my life.
When I left, I gave good-bye presents to people who worked at the fish store, 
because they were the friendliest faces I knew in town.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but
I got an inkling of what it feels like to be in solitary confinement,
or to be bullied, shunned, and friendless at school.
We are social creatures,
Friends and family are our water, our air, our rest.

~Anonymous

 

God bless you and give you strength to endure your hardship.  A hymn is a sung prayer...one of my favorites is "You are Mine"
"I will come to you in the silence,
I will lift you from all your fear,
You will hear my voice, I claim you 
As my choice,
Be still and know I am here."

Chorus:
"Do not be afraid, I am with you.
I have called you each by name.
Come follow me, I will bring you
home; I love you and you are mine" 

God did not make junk and loves all his children. 

~Anonymous

 

Dear Lord,
We come to you as humble citizens of this world. We ask for your forgiveness of our transgressions.  Dear Lord, we beseech thee to help those in isolation in California prisons.  Help these men and women to feel your healing and loving presence throughout their isolation.  Give them a feeling of calm and tranquility for one moment of the day.  Thank you Lord. Amen

~GH

 

Dear Lord

We ask that you give comfort and strength to those who suffer torture including those suffering long hours, days, weeks, months, and years in solitary confinement cut off from healing contact with other persons.

We ask that you give those persons, guards, doctors, psychiatrists, food servers and decision makers who serve persons in solitary confinement the compassion to ameliorate the conditions of confinement and the courage to speak to decision makers to end solitary confinement.

We ask that you give prison guards, prison officials, Department of Corrections officials and legislators the compassion, wisdom, and courage to end the torture of solitary confinement and provide needed mental health treatment to prisoners.

We ask that you give us the bystanders and the public the wisdom, compassion, and persistence to advocate for better mental health treatment of prisoners and the end of solitary confinement and other abuses of prisoners.

~DM

 

If everyone was treated with respect and kindness, it is likely there would not be any prisons or need for prisons.  I pray that there are people in your life that care for you and are kind to you and wish for your highest and best

~P

 

May the hearts and minds of those in guardianship over the lives of all prisoners be filled with God's grace and open to God's justice.

~RM

 

I hear the voices outside.
I hear them day and night, outside.
The relentless drumming of life,
The towering lights of life are outside.
I hear my life, in silence.

~KB

 

Good and gracious God; all your children are created in your image.  None is so far from you that he or she does not reflect your being.  I pray that all states end solitary confinement and capital punishment.  Amen.

~C

 

Thank you for your courage and perseverance. I am praying for you.

Peace

"May you always be with God wherever you may be; and may God be with you always."

~LK

 

We do not know each other but can be together in spirit.

May you feel the presence of the divine spirit at this moment.
May you feel the presence of the divine spirit throughout this day.
May you feel the presence of the divine spirit in all the days to come--
no matter what happens.

May you recognize the divine spirit in those few you come in contact with--
even the guards, officials, and others who have control over you now.
May you recognize that everyone is a child of God--
it doesn't matter their place of birth--
it doesn't matter what they look like--
it doesn't matter what they do--
it doesn't matter their position in life--
none of that matters--
We are all children of God.

I pray for you and with you that you may soon know human contact--
and recognize the divine spirit in yourself and the other.

God bless you.

~N

 
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On July 8, 2013, a historic peaceful hunger strike throughout California prisons began to challenge conditions of long-term solitary confinement, with more than 30,000 participating. In advance of the one year anniversary, NRCAT and its partners issued a national call for people of faith to compose prayers for all who remain in conditions of isolated confinement. 1,000 prayer cards have been delivered for distribution to individuals in SHU in California.

The message is clear: people of faith stand with all who have risked their lives in work for peace and unity.  The over 100 submitted prayers share an urgent call for restorative justice and an end to the cruel and inhumane treatment of long-term isolation, and call for an end to systems and practices that sow division and distrust. The spirit of this interfaith and nationwide effort extends to all who remain in solitary confinement and we invite you to submit a prayer for California prisoners who remain in isolation one year after their hunger strike. We invite you to submit a prayer from your faith tradition, in Spanish or English or the sacred language of your religious tradition. Email your prayer to campaign@nrcat.org, subject line: Prayer One Year Later.

>> Learn more about how you can get involved in the movement to end solitary confinement.
 
 
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