A Tribute to George

And Reflections upon FCI Ray Brook

In prison long ago, I had a cellmate ( a “cellie”), George (last name omitted from this account).  As is not unusual in prison, we became best friends.  He was in federal prison not for a federal crime, but by arrangement by his home state with the federal government.  It is a practice that an inmate of a state or county or city jail may be fostered out to a federal prison in a situation where there is high probability of danger to inmates from other inmates in such locations.   Inmates who are imprisoned for sex crimes are especially prone to be abused by those who have a proper disdain for the crime, but little regard for the restraint required of those who have not the responsibility to exact justice upon the sex offender.

George and I met in the chapel, a welcome relief from the daily grind of noise and commotion in the regular cell block.   And many would go there just for that reason.  Others avoided it, calling a haven for fags.   Indeed, the chapel was not improperly regarded as such for some.  Inmates would go to chapel for such reasons other than to hear the word of God and to have fellowship with those who wished to follow Jesus.

Our chapel was being led by a chaplain who, though a rather awkward fellow in personality and oratory, had a genuine zeal for the preaching of the word of God.  And we who revered the Lord and the Scriptures were happy to have this chaplain preaching at the “church service” provided by the Federal Corrections Institution at Ray Brook. 

Into this edifying situation came an inmate into our chapel service who – as was known generally among the inmates – was shacking up sodomitically with another inmate.   The situation posed a serious problem for all inmates who were attending the chapel and seeking to follow Christ, learning more about Him and His standard for us by which to live, and representing the new life to be lived by those following the Savior.   What to do?  We were needful of and happy for the chapel service, but we could not abide the membership or participation of one who was actively practicing sodomy back in his cell.

We who stood against the blasphemy determined, easily, that we must withdraw from participation in the services and maintain fellowship with one another apart from the chapel services provided by the prison administration, viz., those which allowed the practicing sodomite to attend.  This situation would ruin our witness to the other inmates who were not in attendance and often looked curiously toward those who would go to “attend church” and reckon the church to be a fellowship of (unrepentant) sodomites.

It was not easy to maintain some spiritual life and fellowship among the few of us at Ray Brook who were unable to gather and hear the Word preached and sing praises together to God.  But we maintained contact and fellowship and encouraged one another in the Christian walk.

Soon, the sodomitic fellow was transferred and the cause for disruption was gone, but the problem loomed and we were uncertain how to handle ourselves.  Some returned to chapel, others remained away.  Eventually, as prisoners were transferred to other prisons, the issue evaporated.

After being transferred to another federal prison, I lost touch with George.  I hope he is faring well.  That was a good time of testing and testimony.   And he was a faithful disciple of our Lord Jesus.

A.m. on 26 Feb. 2022