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“I was labeled a troublemaker, my Mom an unfit mother and I was not welcome anywhere.” ~Ryan White, an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States, after being expelled from middle school because of his infection. (1971-1990)

 It had been awhile since Claire had seen her mother. She didn't understand exactly why she had left in the first place. The only explanation she had been given was that she had to go away and would be gone for awhile.

Living with her aunt was OK. Her aunt was always nice to her and took good care of her. But she missed her mother. She worried that she was OK and whether she would ever come back again.

When her aunt told her they were going to visit her mom, Claire got very excited, but she was also a little worried. Why were they going to visit her? Did this mean she was never coming home?

The day came for the visit. It seemed like the middle of the night when her aunt woke her and told her it was time to go. They got on a big bus with a lot of other people with children like Claire. Then they went to another place where they ate breakfast and picked up more people with children.

The ride in the bus was really, really long, but the people at the last stop had given her a pretty purple shirt to wear, a bag of snacks, crayons, coloring books and other nice stuff. Claire’s Aunt told her funny stories about her mother to help her pass the time.

Finally, the bus turned into a driveway that looked like the entrance to a big park. Claire could only make out the few letters of the sign “C-H-O-W…” it read. Buildings started to appear; lots of them. It looked like her school, but with a lot more fences.

The bus stopped in front of one of the biggest buildings. A nice lady got on the bus and said a bunch of stuff Claire didn't understand. Then they exited the bus and headed for one of the big buildings.

The next part was confusing. Nice people in uniforms asked them to take off their shoes and their belts and put them in a tub that went through a machine. Then they were told to put them back on.

The people on her bus were sent out another door and through a series of gates. Finally everyone in the bus was told to walk to another building. There seemed to be fences everywhere and funny looking round wires.

Finally they came to a building with a double glass door. Inside they were met by two people in uniforms – a man and a woman. Claire wondered what they were guarding. They were directed to a large, locked door. Another man in uniform unlocked the door, let them go through, then locked the door behind them.

The room was full of people. Many of the women were wearing denim pants and short-or long-sleeved denim shirts. Suddenly Claire heard someone yell her name. She turned and saw her mother running across the room toward her. Her mother went to her knees to embrace her daughter. Both her mother and her aunt began to cry. “What’s the matter, Mommy?” Claire asked in bewilderment. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

The Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California, is one of the largest correctional facilities in the world, but “the road to Chowchilla is paved with love.” The Get on the Bus Ministry brings children and their caregivers from throughout California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison. One thing that you learn on the road to Chowchilla is that stereotypes don’t work.

In today’s world of disposable things, people become easily disposable as well. It’s simple to label people as convicts and lock them away. Out of sight, out of mind. Problem solved.  But clichés like “throw away the key” or “they wouldn’t be there if they didn’t deserve to be,” don’t fit quite as comfortably when labels like “mother,” “sister,” “grandmother,” or “loved one,” also apply to the same human being. 

As stewards we are called to discover the value in everyone and to love everyone. We don’t get to choose who we love and who we don’t.

Why is it that small children know instinctively how to love unconditionally while we adults have so much difficulty loving one another?

Perhaps it’s because we read the labels on the outside before we really see the person who is inside.

Dear God: Remind me to love first and worry about the labels later.

“If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today.” ~Thomas Sowell, American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, and author (b 1930)

©2013 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.