“STAR wove together all the different components that make up CJP. It connected many of the pieces of my own life. Everything was present – conflict transformation, restorative justice, mediation, trauma, ritual, the moral imagination, and the arts.” – Willroy Grant
Willroy Grant
to heal from such wounds. He loved a quote he heard at STAR: “Pain that is not transformed is transferred” [Father Richard Rohr]. For Siler, STAR named or described patterns that he sees every day, such as the fact that untransformed pain will be “acted out” in activities that hurt those around oneself or “acted in” by harming oneself through such means as substance abuse, harmful relationships, and suicide attempts. On the fourth day of STAR, Siler found himself weeping after viewing a documentary film on a wrenchingly inspirational meeting between a woman whose daughter had been murdered and a prisoner who had participated in the act. “I obviously needed to weep, to express the pent-up grief I had been feeling from the work I have been doing… There was safety in the room and permission to let it flow. “I work in a sea of cyclical violence and trauma. It’s played out in the lives of the men in prison, but also in the staff in the system. There’s a stuckness, a brokenness, that gets entrenched and perpetuated. The staff experience trauma from being part of something that is destructive, that is dehumanizing.” Siler left STAR feeling that he now has “a fire in me – I can be more intentional in healing the trauma around me.” Siler thinks the volunteers who come to his prison to offer Bible study, worship service, and to otherwise express love would benefit greatly from taking STAR to better understand the sources of violence and trauma, and ways out of the cycle. “Having a lot of heart, concern and love are key, but not enough. The resources and understanding provided by STAR are crucial.” He just wishes more people could take STAR: “Why can’t more of this happen? The longing I feel for victims, for offenders, for all
Mark Siler
Photos Jon Styer Photo by JonbyStyer
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