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Holiday behind bars brightened with prayers handshakes and candy |
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December 28, 2003
"Whassup, man," one of them shouts. "The Lord," Durrett replies. Durrett, chaplain at the McCracken County Regional Jail, spent the first few hours of Christmas Day the same way he has for the last 11 Christmases, greeting inmates with food, prayers and handshakes. Every one of the 324 inmates who wanted to pray with Durrett or listen to him read a Bible passage from Matthew had the opportunity Thursday morning. About half of the inmates usually participate, Deputy Jailer Don Smothers said. "Some people are still pretty hostile as to why they're here," he said. Durrett moved swiftly through the jail, although he stopped when an inmate had a request or asked for prayer. Inmates Travis Stoner and Jesse Carter followed Durrett, handing out white paper bags filled with candy to fellow inmates. At the isolation cells, Durrett often crouched to make eye contact with the inmates through the door vents. Some were still asleep at 9 a.m., but most crawled from their beds to receive the packages. In the larger cells, Durrett took the inmates into a hallway, where he read from the Bible and prayed. Before prayer, he allowed the inmates to speak. "We pray for peace not only in the world but in the cell blocks, too," said Kelvin Quarles, 35, who is in jail on a charge of robbery. "I just thank the Lord for his breath ... for letting me see this day. "Sometimes it takes a situation like this to (make) a man realize that there is something better than this. Brother Stan is a man of God. He is bringing the message of Christ to the jail." As Durrett navigated through a maze of hallways, he passed a women's cell with a large window. In the upper left-hand corner, a yellow "Get out of jail free" Monopoly card was nudged in a crack. When asked, most of the inmates said they were thankful for their health, family and "just being alive." Inmate Rondell Walker, who turned 20 on Dec. 19, said Durrett's holiday service provides him with a comfort he doesn't usually get in jail. "To me, it means a lot," said Walker, who is in jail on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. "We can't be with our families on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's showing that people care about us even though we're locked up. It shows people that we're not just criminals." Shift supervisor Gary Sanderson, who like Durrett has seen many Christmas Days inside the jail, said Durrett brings sunshine to a place where it can't always be seen. "It means a lot to them," he said. "A lot of them are upset because they can't see their families. He brightens their day. "He turns a bad day into a good day." |
The Rev. Stan Durrett sticks his head inside a cell,
where he is greeted by several inmates in orange jumpsuits.