It All Comes To Roost

Fingers was a deep thinking young man of that I had no doubt “step lightly go easy” came to my mind. He was to in Her Majesty’s keeping for a few years. He had been caught stealing a wallet at a football match, not because he had lost his touch but because somebody had reported he was going to the match with this intention. He was watched closely on CCTV and filmed in the act. He knew he had to be where he was, if you do the crime you do the time, he knew the score.


Nevertheless he had been betrayed by one he considered a friend and he was hurting deeply and it would not be a simple matter to win his trust. We talked often but not every time I visited. One of the days we were he said to me, “I notice you still bring your wallet into my cell.” “Why would I not?” I replied, “You have done nothing to make me not trust you. If and when you do I will act accordingly.”

Another day he commented on the fact that I was different from most padres he had met. I did not “bible thump him,” he said. “If you have the need to speak of that we can,” I answered. He said he had many questions and needed something but he sure did not believe in a God. He and I began to look at some of the eastern philosophies together. This was new to me so we were on the adventure together.

Some time after the key incident I spoke to him about it again. I asked if he had always been able to do this, to look at something and reproduce it from memory. He could not remember how long he had been able to. “Have you ever thought of putting that talent to good use?” I asked. “What? Making keys,” he said. “Have you ever thought of making models?” I enquired. It turns out he had been absent from school more than at it in his youth so the possibilities of art had slipped him by.

I was given permission by the governor to bring him in some clay. My youth club had clay and did some pottery work so it was not difficult for me to make this possible. It was agreed so the second journey began.

A warrior was captured and thrown into jail. That night he lay in fear sure that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured and executed. As he lay there he remembered the words of his Zen master. “Tomorrow is not real it is an illusion, the only reality is the now. Make the most of the moment.” Heeding these words the warrior fell into a deep and restful sleep. The next day he awoke to find that his own army had captured the prison and he was free.

Make the most of every moment, This is the way of the Tao.

This blog is linked to my other where the artwork used is discussed:-     Coming Home to Roost