Making amends -- Sycamore Tree
Rosie Wood, regional Coordinator for the north east, shares the amazing outcome when a victim of crime for the Sycamore Tree course at HMP Wolds had to be found at the last minute:
Needing to find a victim of crime quickly I thought I would ask the Chaplain for help. He said that one lady came to mind, but this woman happened to be a friend of mine and I believed him to be wrong, surely I would know this about her? Oh ye of little faith, sure enough she had been a victim of an attempted attack some 30 years previously.
Claire said that she would think over the possibility of coming in and sharing her story. As she prayed about it she began to get an excitement in doing so. When Claire shared her story she recollected what had happened quite simply and without full knowledge of what it may raise in the men who were listening. They were also recollecting how they had affected their own victims - I think this is something you can never completely prepare for.
Then the questions began and Claire started to see that these men really felt guilt and shame for what they had
done. She saw the desperation in their eyes and that they wanted to change, but there was another realisation that was beginning to dawn – Claire began to see that she had unresolved issues concerning forgiveness. She realised that had she been faced with the opportunity to meet with her perpetrators, she would have been resistant. It dawned on her that forgiveness and reconciliation was essential to receive closure on the past and to move forward into a new beginning.
Between Week Three and Week Six of the course, the Lord was working in Claire’s heart to prepare her for the final
session where the men would make a Symbolic Act of Restitution. Was she ready to forgive and let go?
When the time came it was an overwhelming time of real confession and sincere apologies. The men rushed to the front in unison. This was the first time this had happened and, much to Claire’s surprise and delight, one man knelt down in front of her and wept as he shared how he had hurt people and needed forgiveness. This response melted Claire’s heart and she was easily able to offer her forgiveness to those who asked for it.
This article originally appeared in the January 2011 issue of Voices, the Prison Fellowship England and Wales newsletter for volunteers.
