September 19 Update

On this morning’s weekly pilgrimage to Sheridan Prison Camp (our third), Beth and I reminded ourselves that this is precisely why we came here to Portland, Oregon: so that we could see, hear, and touch our beloved son Jacob on a regular basis. We had a vision, an ambiguous plan, a lot of faith, and oodles of love and Light and support from our extended community. Thank you, dear reader, for being a crucial part of that community. Thanks to you, we are able to be living into our vision in real time.

Jacob looked solid this morning: healthy, whole, and grounded. He is in full possession of his faculties, of his critical awareness, and – thank goodness – of his joie de vivre. During our three-hour visit this morning [Yes, we stayed for three hours again, and the time flew by!], he even laughed out loud. He also looked quite somber, reminding us that he is currently imprisoned and deprived of agency in myriad ways. The way he is going to get to the future is to remain fully grounded in the here and now. I don’t know about you, but speaking for myself, that is HARD WORK.

I would like to illuminate several threads in this blog post: Horticulture; Communication with the Outside; Thee Quaker podcast; and people’s actions on their adopted Day of Action.

Horticulture

·       Jacob shared with us that there are 10 people who work in Horticulture, and they are a spirited team with high standards. It occupies the center of his daily routine. It turns out that the recently-appointed Warden of Sheridan FCI is quite impressed with the work of the Horticulture crew, and has taken concrete steps to show his support. More on that in a future post.

·       I shared with Jacob an article from the Prison Journalism Project, entitled “Why Every Prison Needs a Garden.” In response to it, Jacob wrote: “Dad, This is so lovely and reflective of my experience here. We happily have staff who are supportive of the work we do, especially in Horticulture, and we are fiercely protective of it. We understand that, like everything else, this could be taken away at any time. And so we do what we can to be careful, thoughtful and tread lightly. The veggies and fruits are indeed delicious. Love, Jacob”

·       Click here to see the promised sketch of Jacob’s design for the hydroponic system that he is helping to build, and a picture of the spiral staircase he designed and built at our home in Pennsylvania, to give you a sense of his design vision and craftsmanship.

Communication from/with the Outside

·       Jacob has continued to receive a volume of personal mail that can only be described as extraordinary. He is grateful for each and every letter, many of which have been shared with me. (I am cataloguing all of them, for future reference.) It is his goal to respond to as many of the letters he receives as possible, recognizing that goal may exceed his capacity. Happily, he seems at peace about it. I invite you to give him grace if you have sent him a letter and not heard back from him.

·       Jacob showed us his current Bic medium point black ballpoint pen. “I have emptied 4 of these so far!” he beamed. The emptied shells are hanging in his cubby, as mementos of how much he has written, both in correspondence as well as journaling.

·       He wrote: “I have also made a desk out of one of the discarded cardboard boxes for bulk supplies of toilet paper. It makes writing much more comfortable and a more focused and private experience.”

·       We ordered a subscription to the Portland Mercury (the publication that featured Taylor Griggs’ sensitive and humanizing article: Test of Faith), not at all certain that it would reach him. I am thrilled to report: It did! “Hi Dad! Just wanted to let you (and other interested parties) know that the September issue of the Mercury has arrived!!! It was SUPER lovely to read, and not just the article about our family. The blast of color and PORTLAND brought me to tears. I'm very much looking forward to getting plugged back into all of the Portland things when I return. I'm grateful to hopefully have the Mercury each month as a way to keep abreast of current events and perhaps even become aware of things before some folks currently in the city!”

Thee Quaker podcast

·       Since the podcast “A Quaker Family Faces a Federal Sentence” dropped on September 15, I have received a virtual flood of responses, sign-ups for this blog, and adopted days of action. The feedback that I have heard has been overwhelmingly supportive and positive. It is clear that it touched a nerve.

·       I am deeply grateful to the podcaster, Zack Jackson, and Thee Quaker executive producer, Jon Watts. I believe they really “got it.” Zack created a narrative flow that did not contradict Jacob’s sworn testimony, and simultaneously gave thoughtful listeners everything they needed to seriously reevaluate their understanding. Between that and the Portland Mercury article, I believe people are getting a fuller picture of the whole story. My gratitude is large.

·       Jacob wrote: “Dad, I'm so glad the interview is good!! I look forward to receiving the transcript. And that message [from a Quaker in Montana] is very sweet. There are many folks here from Montana, funny enough. I don't think they're involved in the Quaker community out there, but how wonderful it would be to strengthen those connections somehow.” Naturally Jacob instantly sees an opportunity to connect his fellow inmates from Montana with Quakers in Montana. That’s Jacob for you.

Days of Action

·       Thanks to Jacob, lots and lots of people who are currently not in prison are engaging in spirit-led actions of their own choosing, to make the world a better place. People who have adopted one of his days of imprisonment have been doing concrete acts of service, activism, and community-building, and then writing to him to tell him all about it. If you are reading this and you have not yet signed up for a day, please consider doing so now here.

·       When you write a letter to Jacob, I invite you to send me an electronic copy of your letter. I am cataloguing all of them for posterity. I believe they will be deeply meaningful for Jacob in the future, reminding him of the love and support that sustained him through his prison sentence.

·       Some of the actions people have shared include:

o   Volunteering at a soup kitchen;

o   Making homemade food for people experiencing homelessness;

o   Picking up litter on the roadsides;

o   Going to City Council meetings to advocate for public transit;

o   Providing care to people experiencing illness;

o   Organizing a postcard-writing campaign to irregular voters in swing states;

o   Going to personal pilgrimage sites and then telling others about it;

o   Sharing garden-fresh produce with the local food bank;

o   And so many more that defy categorization.

·       One person from Pennsylvania wrote, “Thank you for inspiring me to go bigger this time. It was really nice to be able to support my neighbors facing food insecurity in your family's honor.”

·       People all over the world are taking actions. So far we have participants from Denmark, Mexico, Canada, Australia, England, Sweden, and the USA.

I was invited to speak this evening at an interfaith vigil and march at the ICE building in Portland, the very same one where Jacob found himself on that fateful day of June 14, 2025. If you are interested in reading my speech, you can read it here. I am happy to report that most of the crowd knew the tune and lyrics to “This Little Light of Mine.” Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!