Pray for Michael

Back in fall 2008, my cousin Michael, a resident of West Virginia who is in his mid-forties, was charged with sexually violating the two-year-old daughter of his nephew. (I know, you're shuddering right now--but read the rest of the story.) He was read his rights and arrested and during interrogation confessed to committing the crime. The only problem with all of this is that Michael is severely mentally disabled; professionals have placed him mentally at the level of a seven-year-old. Michael's mother, his legal guardian, was not present when he was questioned by the police or when he made his "confession." And when the toddler was examined at the hospital, there was no evidence that she had been violated in any way. (I'm trying not to be too graphic.)

From that time to today, Michael's situation has made One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest look like a Disney family film. Michael was judged incompetent to stand trial and was ordered to a mental hospital for an undetermined length of time. It has seemed, in our family's opinion, that the psychiatrist who oversees the hospital has gone to great lengths to keep Michael there, even though by now he has more than served the time that others who had been judged competent would have served for a similar offense. Michael is not violent, and he has no record of previous offenses. Remember--Michael has the mental ability of a seven-year-old. The psychiatrist has used tests written for those of average intelligence to test Michael and label him a pedophile. There have been periodic hearings to determine if Michael should be released to his mother or to an adult home, but every time one of those hearings nears, the hospital staff suddenly begins reporting all kinds of bad behaviors on Michael's part--clear evidence that is a dangerous criminal who should be locked away. They also accuse family members of being uncooperative.

In the time Michael has been committed to the hospital, there have been two violent incidents. In one, another severely disabled patient (I believe he is both deaf and mentally disabled) was raped and hospitalized. He was then released from the mental hospital--into a group home, perhaps. In an interview, his mother commented that it was a terrible thing that her son was raped, but at least it got him out of the hospital. At Christmas time, another young patient was killed when guards were restraining him. This is his story. The incident occurred on December 28, 2011, and I have heard that the coroner still hasn't released a cause of death. This hospital is a scary place, and Michael's family fears for his life. There is no distinction made between those who are mentally ill and those who are mentally disabled. It would seem that the state of West Virginia remains in the dark ages in the way it handles these cases.

Gradually Michael and his mother have had their rights taken from them. When Michael was first hospitalized, she and other family members went to visit several times a week. At the last hearing, the judge in the case determined that my aunt was the only family member who could visit Michael for only a half hour a week. Typically some sort of evidence is concocted to demonstrate that the family is uncooperative or that Michael's behavior requires his being locked up.And the reality is that my aunt and all the family members have bent over backwards to be cooperative because they are well aware that they are dealing with a corrupt system.

Why would this judge and psychiatrist work so hard to keep Michael in the hospital? We can't be sure, but here are some realities. The hospital now receives Michael's disability income. On top of that, the hospital receives $1200 a day for its "services." And this is how taxpayers' dollars are being used to keep "dangerous criminals" who have the mental capability of a seven-year-old off the streets.

The whole ugly situation has taken an especially ugly turn. My aunt went to visit Michael after the most recent ruling that only she may visit for a half hour a week. She is in poor health, so her ex-husband, Michael's father, accompanied her. When they went in, hospital staff invited Michael's father to come in and visit as well. My aunt reminded them that Michael was allowed no visitors except for her. After checking with staff at a couple of levels, they told Michael's father that he was permitted to visit; they had no orders to the contary.

So now my aunt, Michael's father, and my cousin (Michael's sister, who has maintained a very active Facebook account of the situation) have been summoned to appear in court tomorrow morning on contempt charges because Michael's father visited him in violation of court orders.Apparently my cousin no longer has the right to free speech on her Facebook account.

This poor family has turned to anyone they can think of for help--the media, West Virginia lawmakers, charitable organizations. While there have been a few valiant efforts, no one yet has been able to overcome the efforts of the judge and psychiatrist who have made it their mission to keep Michael hospitalized and keep his family away from him. Michael's family simply has seen and know too much and are a threat to the system.

Is there anyone out there reading this who can help? If you're reading this and you know of someone in the media, in law, in some organization for the mentally disabled--please send them the link to this post. And pray--for Michael, his parents, his siblings who are fighting so valiantly and courageously for his rights. Pray that the charges against my aunt and her family members will be dropped tomorrow morning.

It's hard to believe that this can happen in America. Please pray for Michael and his family.

Friday afternoon: Like everything having to do with this case, today's events are confusing and bizarre. When my family members showed up for the hearing today, they were told that they were mistakenly charged with contempt. Instead, today's hearing would be a status meeting for Michael, which is strange because he just had a status hearing about a month ago, when my aunt was told that her visits were restricted to a half hour a week. I don't recall how frequently status meetings have been held, but perhaps, at most, once a quarter? At any rate, the ruling stands that only my aunt may visit Michael for a half hour a week. Immediate family members (like my cousin) cannot post information (I have no explanation for this since it seems a breach of First Amendment rights, but there are certainly plenty of nonimmediate family members who are willing to take on the task). But we feared the worst, that perhaps the courts would take custody of Michael away from my aunt or even throw my accused family members in jail. So we heave a sigh of relief, thank God for this protection, and pray that there will be soon be freedom for Michael.

On Lent

I wanted to write a post about Lent, but my friend, pastor and author Jeremy Walker, has said it all so much better than I ever could here.

Called to Love

She's completely unlovable, this one I've been called to love. She's been jobless for a long time, and she feels no compelling need to look for work. She turned her back on God and the church years ago, and now she worships at the church of Rachel Maddow and government entitlement. She pretty well stands opposed to everything I hold dear--faith in Christ, personal responsibility, a disciplined life, respect for others--and she holds nothing back in saying so. She calls only when she needs or wants something; our relationship exists because she has become completely dependent on the handful of people in her life (me included) who don't want to see her without food, electricity, gas, and a home. Gratitude is a foreign concept to her; she sees herself as a victim, and those of us who have the good fortune (that we've worked hard and lived responsibly is irrelevant to her) to have jobs, families, comfortable homes, and decent clothes owe it to her to make sure she has the bare minimum.

She's the most miserable, unhappy, bitter person I have ever known. And I have been called to love her. And while I get frustrated thinking of all the things she should do--look for work, act like she cares about the people in her life, just plain say "thank you" when someone does something for her, try to live more responsibly with the little she has--I've realized that this isn't really about her. It's about me--me being called to love her.

I've loved others who have been dependent on me. Like any mom, I did everything for my babies. But my babies were cute sometimes; sometimes they smiled, laughed, reached their hands for me, snuggled into my lap, kissed and hugged me when they were older. There were rewards for taking care of them. There was the husband with leukemia who loved me back when I took care of him. He fought to stay alive as long as he could because I loved him, and he loved our children. It was hard work to serve him, but it wasn't without rewards.

There are no rewards in this service. It's thankless. And so I remind myself that my back was turned to God. I have been ungrateful and believed that he owed me--that I deserved better than I had. I have called on him only when I needed something--called on him to give me something, but not to tell him that I loved him, that I desired the glory of his name above all else, that I was thankful for everything I have because it all came from him. "Raise your hand if you're a wretch," our pastor said yesterday in Sunday school. What could I do? What could any of us do? We raised our hands. And while I wish all of my wretchedness was buried deep in the past, it still rears its ugly head from time to time.

And yet despite my wretchedness, my ingratitude, my bitterness--despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing in it for God, he loved me and gave his Son for me. And so now I must love. It's a test, and I'm not doing very well most days, but I'll keep at it. And I'll pray that as we love and serve her, she'll come to see that she's an ungrateful wretch--because more than food, money, companionship--she needs to know the One who has called me to love her.

Monday Morning Flavel

I'm reviewing the Flavel manuscript that I wrote about here, and I think it would be just selfish of me not to share this lovely paragraph with you:

"In the same day your heart opens by faith to Christ, all the treasures of Christ are unlocked and opened to you. In the same hour God turns the key of regeneration to open your soul, the key of free grace is also turned to open unto you the unsearchable riches of Christ. Then the righteousness of Christ becomes yours to justify you, the wisdom of Christ to guide you, the holiness of Christ to sanctify you; in a word, He is that day made of God unto you, “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). All is yours, for you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (1 Cor. 3:23)."

~John Flavel, from England's Duty under the Present Gospel Liberty: Eleven Sermons on Revelation  3:20

Good news for a Monday morning!