A few introductory words from one of our readers:

Sometimes our life path takes an unexpected twist or turn. It is our willingness to accept where we are, what we have at any given moment and transform it that determines whether we create a blessing or a curse for ourselves. Like an alchemist, Tom Brown has taken his circumstances of "iron" and transformed them into Gold.

I have been inspired by his example to examine what really matters in my own life. I struggle to find purpose, expression... waiting for something "out there" to liberate me from my own confines. No matter what the reality of our outer world looks or feels like, it is the limitless inner resources we can draw from to sustain and nourish us. Tom has not only done this for himself, but he has lovingly sent his ripples of insight, wisdom, and integrity out into the universe for others to draw upon. He has given me motivation to rise above my own limitations and reach within to "free" my own spirit.

It is my hope that Tom be granted his physical freedom again very soon. If you feel called to help, let us send our own ripples of love and support back and with God's blessing, they can become a wave that will make this happen. You may do this by writing a letter to the Board of Parole. Some helpful things to include are: your name, age and occupation, how you know Tom, how he has positively affected you, and why you think he should be released (Tom plans to continue writing and teaching).

These letters are important because they show that Tom has learned from his mistake, has used his incarceration time wisely to benefit others (in addition to writing this column, Tom has helped hundreds of inmates earn their GED diplomas as a teacher’s aide and has been a model prisoner) and that he will have a community supporting him once he is released. It is best to keep letters short and concise, but candid.

Please send them to: Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, 1645 West Jefferson, Suite 101, Phoenix, Arizona, 85007, Re: Charles Thomas Brown, ID# 140237, Parole.

Thank You...
An inspired PLW subscriber

A Prison Miracle

BECAUSE OF THE REGIMENTED, punishing routine of a prison yard, miracles are few and far between. One appeared recently, though. There's no other word for it. It's a miracle!

Billy is a 60 year old inmate who has been incarcerated for 35 years. He receives no visits or letters and has been forgotten by the outside world. All of this dramatically changed, however, when he received a letter from his sister, Maxine. They were adopted separately when Billy was 12 years old and have had no contact for 48 years. She found him on the internet.

This letter should not have been delivered. It did not have his inmate identification number on it and mail is automatically returned without it. But the, miracles don't need to follow the path of logic, do they?

Billy brought the letter and his response to it to me to read. Those two letters were so heart-felt and real I felt like I was reading holy documents. As I read them, I could hear the dreams and yearnings, the gratitude and delight. I heard the questions and the musings, all coming from the heart of these two.

"I felt like a kid," Billy said, "a kid who had never gotten a Christmas present and then, all of a sudden, there was this beautiful gift. All I could do was sit there and look at that letter with tears in my eyes."

I'll paraphrase his letter:

Dear Sis,

When your letter came, I was so full of emotion, I couldn't even open it for awhile. Can you believe it's been 48 years since you and I laughed and played together?

I love you so much, dear Sis, and don't know how to tell you how much your letter means to me.

I'm supposed to be this hardened convict, this one who is too tough to show any feelings, but Sis, if I don't quit writing right now, I'm going to cry like a baby.

Your loving brother,
Billy

She will be coming to see him soon and I hope I can be in that visitation room when those two meet. What a reunion that will be!

When we're open to the miraculous events of life, as those two are, we're with the flow, the senses are on full alert, the mind is receptive, the body is awaiting new input, and the soul is ready to go sailing on the sea of possibilities.

In the end, no matter how isolated or embattled our lives, we need one another as family, we need each other's hearts and songs to help one another find another way. Our openness to the miraculous gifts of the universe is what holds us in its warm embrace.

The Present Moment

I COULD NOT HELP BUT HEAR the heated conversation at the table next to me in the prison visitation room:

The inmate was upset with his girlfriend for not coming to visit him often enough and was unable to grasp the simple reality of the present moment. Instead of recognizing and appreciating her being with him, he used that time to complain about other times.

This is a good example of how we define things and believe things to be, without considering the reality of the present moment, which might in truth be something completely different from our habitual beliefs. This is the way many of us unknowingly go through life. We have ideas about how things and people are, but we do not stop to look, in the truth of the present moment, to see if it is actually so. Life is lived only in the NOW, not in past regrets or future anxieties.

Spiritual growth is based on seeing the newness of things, on opening our hearts, and on clearing our vision in order to return to the timeless present. It allows us to become more active and more alive. As we do this, we can sense the ceaseless nature of the flow of events in our lives and we can discover a freedom beyond all changing conditions.

We discover that our very breath and body and human limitations are a part of the divine. We learn to embrace it all, the body of joy and of grief, to listen to the heart and love the heart's capacity to feel. This immediacy is the true source of compassion and understanding.

© 2001-07, Tom Brown

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles "Tom" Brown was a successful investor who did very well in real estate, oil, and the stock market. Friends began asking him to invest for them, too. And he did. Things went well, and more people heard about his abilities and wanted to be included in the investment strategies he had devised. All went well until there was a dramatic change in the market. All that went up turned down, and Tom wanted everyone to still have a profit - his big mistake - as he wanted to be well thought of. Tom was accused of defrauding investors. Although it was shown that he had never diverted any money for himself other than a modest commission, through unbelievable mishandling by an incompetent or dishonest attorney, what should have been a one-year sentence became a 17-year sentence. At the time of judgment, Tom was 62 years of age.

The purpose of Tom's blog is not to dwell on the injustice, but rather, to show the incredible unfoldment of consciousness in a man who has taken this sentence and created a workshop of Soul and Spirit out of it. His words are designed to help us see into life and do better with what we've been given. Tom's Beyond the Wall blog is located at www.Beyondthewall.blogs.com.  If you would like to write to Tom, he appreciates correspondence.  He does not have access to a computer but can be reached via Charles "Tom" Brown, # 140237, ASPC - Lewis, Barchey Blue - D2 - E5, P.O.Box 3200, Buckeye, AZ, 85326.