Daughters, Prisoners, and Builders

To believe is to believe that you have been torn
from the abyss, yet stand waveringly on its rim.
– Christian Wiman, every riven thing, "Canyon de Chelly, Arizona" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2010).

1.  The rich daughter.

That poem segment captures the uncertainty of salvation. Here is a true story about life with unwarranted certainty about salvation.

A woman in her nineties was financially independent. But she had an unexpected property-tax bill. She needed a bridge loan to pay it, until money came in that she was expecting. She turned to her daughter, a multi-millionaire with property and airplanes and vacation homes. The foundation for the daughter’s millions was seed money from her mother.

The daughter has long seethed with resentment against her brother. She doesn’t want her mother to give anything to the brother in her lifetime or in her will.

So the daughter coerced her mother to put all of her wealth into an irrevocable trust that named the daughter as trustee. That gave the daughter complete control over her mother’s property. She also coerced her mother to forsake her right to write her own will.

When the mother demanded to get back control of her own property, the daughter stopped giving money for her to live on.

From relatives, the mother scraped together a small sum to sue to wrest back control of her property. The daughter hired an expensive, silk-suit law firm to fight the mother. The daughter paid the legal bills from the mother’s trust.

The daughter fought in court until the trust was bankrupt. Then she settled the lawsuit. A piece of property in the trust remains to be sold, but when it is sold, the money will go to the daughter’s lawyers.

The daughter is a proud Christian.

If she knew the gospel of Luke, the daughter might see herself as the rich man of Luke 12 who stored his harvest of grain and counted himself safe and happy. But death took him. Jesus said: "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:21(KJV).) I don’t see a woman who ruins he mother as being "rich toward God."

But I doubt that she sees herself in that parable. Instead, I suppose she has brick-solid certainty in her salvation. I suppose she expects to be welcomed into the joy of God when on her deathbed she whispers for her soul to go. I suppose she is sure that cruelty to her parent will not cause God to kick her into the flames like a viper coiled on his foot. Because if she thought that evil-mindedness and cruel actions would bar her from eternal happiness, it’s hard to imagine that she would ruin her mother.

I don’t write about this daughter who ruined her mother so that we can rejoice that we are better than she is. I write about her so that we can contemplate how we are like her. It is her – no doubt – assurance of her own virtue that soothes her conscience and enables her to do evil. Her story serves us poorly if it soothes our own sense of virtue, rather than provoking us to search and strengthen our souls.

2. Life prisoners.

 I represent prisoners who have life sentences. I try to get them parole. The prisoners who call forth my best efforts are those who make the most of their chance to win release. They stay out of trouble; they take self-improvement courses; they help other prisoners; they win the admiration of correctional officers; they take college classes; and they learn vocations. The ones who call forth my least effort are those who do the opposite – the ones who think they can get out of prison no matter what they do while inside of prison. They are hopeless causes.

God’s intervention opens the way to heaven for us. God opens the way to heaven, but salvation, while it is a gift, is also a partnership. To God’s divine effort, he expects us to add diligence, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. (2 Peter 1:5-8.) We do this to confirm God’s call and choice of us, so that we may be welcomed into his eternal kingdom. (1 Peter 2:10-11.)

I write about life prisoners so that we might be like the diligent prisoners who respond with great effort to the chance for freedom.

3. Foolish builders.
 
The alternative to adding these things to our souls – virtue, knowledge, self-control, etc. – is to be foolish builders. Jesus spoke of building a tower. Before you start, you should count the cost of finishing it, or you will lay the foundation and stop. Then you will be a laughingstock. (Luke 14:28-30.) Unfinished Christians will be the laughingstocks of Hell.

We must not be cruel daughters, un-reformed prisoners, or foolish builders. We must always add to our towers, brick by brick.

The Prisoner and the Politician, Part 3

(Parts 1 & 2 below)

7. Introduction, Part 3.

Part 1 compared two lives: a composite life-prisoner, and Newt Gingrich. Part 2 began to scrutinize the comparative virtues and vices of these men. Both have lied: Gingrich certainly, my client probably/maybe. Part 2 examined why.

8. The prisoner and the politician: comparison, continued.

 Let’s examine the comparative consequences of these character flaws, and other revelations.

d. The scope of their failings.Moral failings have consequences.

If my client lied about his knowledge of the murder of the house sitter, or his own participation in that crime, at least his lie had no scope. The commissioners and I were his audience, and we are few.

But Gingrich doesn’t lie to the few. He lies to a national audience. And he aspires to speak to the world as President of the United States with his unclean lips.

The scope of my client’s lies is minuscule. The scope of Gingrich’s lies is epic.

e. The effect of their failings.The consequences of my client’s – I suspect – minimization of his role in the murder is highly theoretical. A lie insults the dignity of the person lied to – here, the commissioners and me, whether we know of it or not. It has had no lingering effect.

When Gingrich lies, in addition to insulting the dignity of those he lies to, he deflects his audience from reality and molests their judgment. Based upon what Gingrich says, his credulous followers form opinions. Based on those opinions, they will choose candidates. And they will perpetuate his falsehoods among their friends and relations.

But almost worse than what Gingrich does to his credulous followers is what he does to his followers who penetrate his distortions. Because he is a hero to them, when they see him lie and rise, they are tempted to walk in his ways. This harms their integrity, and that potentially injures their personal and professional lives.

But Gingrich offends against more than his followers. He offends against the nation. Lies are toxic to our national lifeblood. On an individual level, any time we make an important decision – like whom to marry, where to invest our money – we crave accurate information. Who would marry if they knew that their would-be spouse was not kind, but cruel behind a mask of kindness? Who would invest their savings in a company, if they knew that the impressive company profits were only an accounting mirage? That's politics, too. America cannot sail itself to a safe and prosperous future under a delusion-based helm.

f. The burden of their failings.My client himself bears the burden his recent failing. He was caught with a cell phone, and he was denied parole. I have no doubt that he otherwise would have won release. As to his possible falsehoods, I feel no residual effect of this offense. Nor did the commissioners, if they were aware of it. I don’t think they shared my suspicion, because they said nothing. But minimization of personal responsibility for a crime is a fundamental reason for which commissioners deny parole.

Except in an eternal sense, Gingrich does not bear the burden of his recent failings; his followers and his country do. As Gingrich rises, we (potentially) fall.

g. Hypocrisy.My client is no hypocrite. He does not judge others harshly for what he himself does. He knows he has done evil. He hoped for mercy from the commissioners, but he was not dismayed when parole was denied. He did not complain about others who got parole who were, in his mind, less deserving.

Gingrich savages Democrats from his position of moral impoverishment. And as Speaker of the House, he famously made the case against Bill Clinton because of Monica Lewinsky. This, while he himself violated his vows to his second wife.

h. Goodwill.I don’t pretend that my client has affection for the commissioners who decide whether he goes free or stays in prison. But if nervousness is any indication, he fears them.

Gingrich possesses contempt for his followers. Contempt is the cause and effect of his falsehoods. Only contempt for his followers permits him to insult their dignity by lying to them instead of telling them the truth. And he necessarily must have contempt for people who cannot penetrate his transparent lies.


i. Humility and hubris.My client is humble. He doesn’t chafe under his daily routine, which is dictated by others. Others tell him when to rise, when to sleep; what to eat and when; what will be his occupation; what he may possess as property. He calmly accepted the decision denying him parole. He does not seek any lofty status in society. He just wants out. He knows he will always be under supervision, always be at risk for returning to prison. He accepts that.

Gingrich has wealth and power, and he seeks the highest power in politics. He considers his political rise more important than truth, and that is to say more important than God. Gingrich holds a bastard sense of entitlement to power – a sense of entitlement that overwhelms his fidelity to facts.

j. Future.If my client obtains his freedom, I have no doubt that he will lead a blameless life. For one thing, statistically, released lifers have a low recidivism rate. Also, after a deprived life, I expect the euphoria of freedom to choke out any depraved temptation that could cause his return to the futility of prison.

But it is hard to see a path to Gingrich’s rehabilitation. He has risen high in the world. He has the acclaim of millions. He has power, fame, and riches. And the consequence is pride. I see no catalyst that might alter the practices by which he has risen.


9. Conclusion.The life stories of my clients and Newt Gingrich are now being written. Some of my clients will achieve their freedom. Gingrich will rise, but I don’t know how high. But I predict this: in their small way, my freedom-gaining clients will lead good lives; and in his epic way, Gingrich will be a force for decline.