Tuesday
4/17/07
Today is my day to go out in to the yard. It's called "el patio sol" here. The yard is a dirt square a little bigger than a basketball court. They give me two hours alone so I usually jog the perimeter for an hour and stretch and do pull-ups on the fence for the other hour. (I calculated this morning that since my arrest in Nov. 2006, I've been outside for more than 15 minutes only 12 times, with the maximum being 3 hours. Needless to say, I ain't got no suntan going on!)
Today is special though cause I got permission to go to the "iron pile" (gym) and work out for an hour. After the yard, this will be a nice variation to my normal, weightless, workout in the gallery. Anyways, I have about 25 minutes to write this letter so here goes...
I would like to start by sharing a couple of excerpts from letters I have received in the last month:
"ERIC, your suffering is producing good fruit in my life. God is using your story to sober me, to wake me, to call me to action, to shake me up. He is taking a blade to the roots of sin in my life; sloth, greed, and complacency. He just keeps whispering your name to me."
(A letter from a stranger)"Hang in there brother. The boys of H BLOCK got your back."
(Prisoner sentenced to life in a jail in the U.S.)"Your story will change lives: your story already has changed lives. It is just the beginning and there is a world waiting to hear it." (Young woman from California)
"I read about what happened to you and for some reason it has really affected me."
(Letter from Portugal)"Right now your life is the heartbeat for about a million others!"
(Letter from Mexico)"I have never protested anything publicly and I have no interest in trying for political office to improve society. But since I've been reading blogs, sending mails, and seeing people respond to your situation, I've felt this wonderful sense of POSSIBILITY. People are actually getting involved and it has rejuvenated my hope democracy."
(Computer consultant, U.S.A)"You are teaching a lot of people many different things while going through this, however hard it may be."
(Unknown)"We are fighting for you!"
(9 year old)I, like thousands of others, would like you to know that I am praying for you and your family. You are obviously a very special child of the universe; otherwise, the adversary would not have worked so hard against you, it must be hard to believe that now, but it is true."
(Support letter through the website)"I just learned about you on You Tube. This video has really captured me and I'm going to write my Congressman and a friend who works at the State Dept."
(University of CA, San Diego alumni)
These are just a few excerpts from a small batch of letters. The letters touch on people's emotions, social views, how they found out, their outrage, ways they have been reflecting on themselves, etc. (there have been some pretty insane hate mails as well, but I will have to get into that some other time.).
So that people can visualize: I read the letters in my cell. They are printed on paper and are brought to me about once every 2-3 weeks. I do receive them all. I have to be somewhat secretive with the letters so the others prisoners don't get jealous so I stash them under my mattress. I encourage people to keep writing even if it is just a couple lines, I get to see who is writing and subsequently, it allows me to grasp the size of the awareness network.
Most important regarding the support I want to say the following: a man can live weeks without food, days without water, but can't go minutes without HOPE.
The letters of support reporting the many ways in which people are fighting for me, give me tremendous hope. It shows me extent of the fellowship that is sharing in my suffering and this takes much of the burden off my shoulders. It makes the time I'm doing less painful and frees my spirit. I have no idea why I have been appointed to be the lightning rod for all of this, but you can imagine how it makes me feel to read from in these walls that "my suffering is producing good fruit" in people's lives around the world. It overwhelms me with deep strength and peace.
At times the is despair so overwhelming there are no words, there is pain so deep it does not have a name, and the fear is so powerful we cannot paint his face. Yet, as a result of those who love and support me I see beauty above it all.
I am holding firm, for I know that I'm not meant to stay here and a great adventure lies ahead. I'm writing. I have documented as much as possible. I have filled many journals and look forward to the day when I can share the details.
What a story it is! A story of injustice, of danger, of near death experience, of courage, of moral strength, of hate, corruption, romance, guns, politics, media, of death, of collective energy, of spiritual pilgrimage, of love, of faith, and of the creator filling the hearts of ordinary people with the energy, wisdom, and might to do extraordinary things that without his help would be completely out of our mortal grasp. Perhaps most intense for me is that its not over yet…
In closing I would like to ask that people send positive thoughts and prayers to DORIS, her family, my family, the defense team in Nicaragua, safety in prison, and lastly the gate keeper who will be overseeing my appeal.
With much love,
ERIC V.
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