Christian Living
Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday August 15, 2006
“I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone.”
Sarah Jane Olson
The very name Sarah Jane Olson conjures visions of a blonde, blue eyed, farm girl in Minnesota, perhaps in the Lake Wobegon area and you can almost smell the apple pie she just took out of the oven to cool down and setup.
Could the opening statement mean that somehow, after all these years had Sarah baked a bad apple pie? Or did the cows get out and get run over on the Interstate?
None of the above. Sarah Jane Olson was known as Kathleen Soliah and was a militant member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Our little lady from the backwaters of Minnesota at one time left off the apple pie and catching runaway cows to robbing banks and attempting to bomb police cars. She was a 'hippie rebel.'
Far removed from the land of a thousand lakes, Sarah now lives and will continue to live in a California prison until 2009. Then, hopefully, she will return to her husband Fred, her three children and get back to being the pie baking Sarah her family and neighbors love.
Now 59 years of age, Sarah states simply concerning her youthful rebellion, based on somehow bettering America, "That's the old life."
The grim reality of prison life even for a woman well past her prime is numbing and Sarah is grinding it out with some hope and comfort from her faithful husband and the visits from Fred and at least one of the daughters about 10 times a year. They must travel all the way from Minnesota and air fare is not cheap.
Fred says, "We make the most of it. Visits are what keep everything going, so we consider ourselves exceedingly fortunate to be able to go."
After disappearing for 24 years, Mrs. Olson was arrested eventually pleading guilty to the charges and somehow making the most of it.
Her statement about being in prison at her age is insightful and tells anyone who will listen a world of truth:
"Prior to arriving in prison I thought my stay would be educational, but now I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone."
I have no idea as to just what painful experience you are going through, but if you know Christ, take heart, experiences with Jesus are not wasted, but opportunities for growing.
Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.
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A good article which raises two interesting points.
Sarah Olson expected her prison experience to be "educational". It is. She has learned, that instead of attempting to improve the opportunities for those who are incarcerated, the individuals who run our penal systems simply warehouse people. At the same time, they erect barriers to prevent those same prisoners from any effort at self improvement. Presumably, this is done to "punish" those whom society has labeled as "unclean" or Pariahs.
The result is predictable and, with a sudden upsurge in violent crime, we are reaping the rewards. As you pointed out, Sarah will be released in 2009. Most of the folks in prison will also, at some point, rejoin us in the free world. If you cage an animal for a number of years, deny it adequate medical care, provide sometimes inedible food, actively refuse any sort of training, just for fun, poke it with a sharp stick repeatedly at irregular intervals, what do you think will happen when you let him out? Would you like to be the one to open the cage door?
Sarah does have some opportunities for growth. They are not the traditional ones and would not readily occur to anyone unless that person already possessed an above average intellect and a rampant imagination. This does not describe the vast majority of the almost 3 million people incarcerated in the United States.