April 2013 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.
Echoes in Purgatory I, SCI Graterford
Echoes in Purgatory is a collection of writings by men who are serving a Life Sentence Withoutt
Parole. Read their words, then listen quietly and you will hear their cry for their God given “Right to
Redemption.” … Life without the possibility of parole is the other death sentence …
Some days doing life in Graterford is like living in the land of the walking dead. I feel like I am walking around in a big cemetery never knowing when I’m going to lay down and never get up. Other days I feel like a brand new person, wearing a brand new suit with a pocket full of money, but, I am stuck in here with nowhere to go. It depends how I look at the glass of
water, half empty or half full. I try to see the glass half full but, too many days I see the glass half empty. It’s a bad dream that never ends.
If I only knew Pennsylvania had a life sentence like a fire that I can’t put out. There is not enough water to put it out because no matter how hard you work, no –matter how hard you try, no matter how much I try to better myself, it’s just not enough.
Pennsylvania says an eye for an eye - or die with no second chance.
I’ve seen many men destroyed by their past and haunted by their future. I however, revel in my past because the good outweighs the bad and I’m optimistic about my future because this is not the end for me, this is not my final chapter.
A Lifer is a man who has been sentenced to death. The man on death row knows the date he is scheduled to die. A lifer lives on each day without knowing that.
Redemption: The act of deliverance from the enslavement of sin that releases man from bondage to freedom. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
If you would like to comment or respond to any of the above reflections, the envelope needs to include: the man’s name, number,
P.O. Box 244, Graterford, PA 19426
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