A Meeting in Letters: Beyond Iron Bars

I’ve just shared a Fifth Step letter from my sponsee, and the room is very quiet. The one whose letter I just shared is ‘spiritually’ in the room. The realm of recovery is beyond concrete and iron bars.

Most of us will never meet this particular prisoner. Yet, most of us sense that a few wrong turns ago, I might have been on the inside myself.

Neither prisons nor society endorse SA sobriety. Admitting in frank language our brokenness is challenging and rewarding. When a prisoner puts pen to paper and writes his or her sexual history, it shows desire and desperation to find a Higher Power in SA recovery.

Our Friday meeting is one of a growing number where prisoner correspondence is read to the group. We share in a group conscience our experience, strength, and hope to the sponsee by mail. A new prisoner receives a template with readings from the White Book, our definition of sobriety, and a reminder of the 12th Tradition as it regards anonymity in prison. I respond to a prisoner’s Step work within a week. Sometimes, they respond quickly. Sometimes, no reply.

For an inmate sponsee, writing the Steps is a tall order. A Step Guide put together by Tucson Ray is available from SAICO and the SA Correctional Facilities Committee. It is the best tool for working with those incarcerated.

We suggest that an inmate’s sponsor first work all the Steps with his/her sponsor. After a 4th Step inventory, sharing a 5th Step opens the sponsor to the rigorous honesty with ourselves, God, and others, that is key to helping the prisoner sponsee.

Most of us will not face the fear of those who commit violence in prison. Without minimizing the profound suffering of the victims of sex offenders, I also think of the safety of those who committed a sexual offense and who courageously face their addiction in SA. They have a name and history. They are sexaholics in the body of a male or a female becoming sober. If God could take a loving stance toward me, I can love people who are imprisoned for hurting others.

A former prisoner sponsee once called me after a three-day bus ride from West Virginia. He had permission to attend a Sunday night meeting. I said, “I don’t usually attend Sunday night.” He uttered, “Oh.” It was a small sound, and I suddenly felt small. I drove him to his first outside meeting. We got to know each other on the way. A criminal record doesn’t mean someone doesn’t have dignity.

By writing and sponsoring, I found those whose desire for recovery can salvage a life from ruinous addiction—even in prison. Lust is a vast problem inside and outside correctional facilities worldwide.

The SA Correctional Facilities Committee (SACFC) has trusted servants who build bridges with prisons and jails. Sponsorship through writing with SACFC offers the opportunity to give back “to ensure immunity” from lust.