This is my last column for CLF in my capacity as Learning Fellow for the Worthy Now Prison Ministry. My fellowship ends on June 30, after which I will be moving on to my first parish ministry in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. My columns in Quest and the Worthy Now newsletter have been the primary way I have communicated with you, our incarcerated members. So this is my good-bye to you, dear friends in faith. I want you to know how deeply I value the countless ways you have moved me over these past ten months.

You have taught me, inspired me, challenged me, mobilized me to action, enlightened me, moved me to tears, and made me laugh out loud. Without ever exchanging a passing glance, much less a smile or a handshake, I have experienced the power of sacred connection through your words.

The CLF worship theme for this month is Embodiment. Sometimes, the relationships we build across prison walls can feel dis-embodied. Our bodies are never in the same place at the same time. For the most part, we come to know one another by no other means than words on paper. I grieve this reality. I am outraged that you, beloved siblings in the human family, are denied the gifts of physical presence with the members of your chosen faith community. Yet, the idea that our relationships are not embodied is, I believe, simply untrue. We may not be together in body at the same time and place, but our relationships are powerfully embodied.

I’m thinking of all the physical effort and energy that goes into connecting through prison mail systems and the United States Postal Service. Your efforts to procure paper, envelopes and stamps. Your labor of writing by hand the insights of your mind and feelings of your heart and spirit. The unceasing efforts of our indomitable prison ministry administrator, Beth Murray, to process the endless piles of mail and redistribute it to CLF staff and pen pals in the far-flung places where we live and work. I’m thinking of the way I settle into my office chair with each one of your letters, pen pal applications, and course responses. How I say your names out loud before reading through your reflections. How your words, your stories, your insights, your kindnesses elicit embodied responses—not only laughter and tears, but also a heart at times softened by compassion, or lightened by humor, and at other times fired up for justice. I cannot express all the ways you have moved me.

As I take my leave, I want to emphasize how deeply grateful I am to each one of you for overcoming the barriers imposed on you in order to build healing relationships with those of us on the outside. I promise to carry your friendship with me — in body, mind, heart, and spirit — as I grow in my ministry. More than any other teachers, you have taught me the truth of Universal Love and Universal Belonging. I will keep your lessons close at heart. May they ever guide me, and all of us, towards a ministry of love and liberation.

In faith and gratitude,
Jennifer

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Rev. Jennifer Johnson

Learning Fellow at Church of the Larger Fellowship

As a Learning Fellow for Church of the Larger Fellowship, I spent my first year focused on worship and small group ministry. Now in my second year, I am eager to support the vital ministries of Worthy Now—connecting incarcerated members to the progressive values, inquiring spirit, and universal love at the heart of Unitarian Universalism. I was fortunate to discover this faith as a young adult, and it transformed my life. I believe everyone deserves access to the spiritual resources that promote healing and transformation. I’m honored to serve Worthy Now in building the Unitarian Universalist community with our beloved incarcerated siblings in faith.

Latest posts by Rev. Jennifer Johnson (see all)

• A Farewell Note from Rev. Jennifer - June 1, 2021
• Why Pray? - April 1, 2021
• Remembering John - March 1, 2021