Melissa Rovetto-Ruffner
When I first learned about the jail ministry letter writing activity during the Goodfaith unboxing zoom event I was excited. My husband and I have been trying to find community service activities for our family but have found it difficult due to our schedules and ages of our children (6 and 3). When I received the names of the six individuals my family and I were asked to write letters to or draw pictures for, I began to plan a time for us to work on the activity and wondered if my two sons would be open to participating. I spoke to my husband and we planned a day to work on the letter writing activity. I found myself reading the instructions and suggestions on the Goodfaith website to try to prepare myself in order to help lead my family in the activity.
When it came time for my family and I to gather to do the activity, things were not going as planned. It was later then I had hoped and my 3-year-old son fell asleep and ended up taking a late nap. It ended up just being myself, my husband, and my 6-year-old son working on the activity. We prayed together to open up the activity and then watched the “Corporal Works of Mercy” video. We read aloud the instructions and then I found myself stuck as to what to write. My 6-year-old decided he wanted to draw pictures but he was unsure of what to draw. I gave a few suggestions and after a short time he started to draw an image of flowers and spring. My 6-year-old looked at the list of names and picked the 3 individuals he would draw pictures for. He drew two more pictures and I was in awe of him and his ability to share a beautiful drawing with a stranger.
I found myself struggling with what to write. I had some negative thoughts and felt unsure that anything I would write would be helpful. I stopped trying to figure out what to write and I began to talk to God. I asked God for wisdom, clarity and guidance on what I could share with the person I was writing to. It also came to me in that quiet time with God that by taking the time to write to this individual, I was honoring their dignity and worth as a person.
I was inspired by my 6-year-old who was able to draw several pictures with ease, without overanalyzing what he was doing. My son was able to share his art with someone he will never meet. In this act, I feel he also sent a message to the person he addressed his picture to that they are human who has a dignity and worth and that they are loved by God, despite what they have or have not done. I was also inspired by my husband who wrote two letters and drew pictures in his letters.
During my conversation with God, it came to me to share some a Thomas Merton prayer I first learned about in college. The last two lines of the prayer always stick with me- “Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. “
I hope this prayer helped convey to the individual receiving it that God is always with them, that God loves them and that God never abandons them especially when they are in pain, suffering and sitting with all their sadness, anger, fear, anxiety and other difficult emotions.
I have thought about the 6 individuals my family sent letters to and I pray that they may know God’s love for them. I am thankful to have had this opportunity through the Goodfaith community.
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
