Catherine Lawes’s Tested Love

Who is Catherine Lawe? You may ask.
Why did I mention her name here? You may think.

Let tune our mind further as we look at her story back in 1921. 

Catherine Lawes felt for the inmates of Sing Sing prison (one of the prison in the States with the hardest criminals of all). When her husband, Lewis, became the warden in 1921, she was a young mother of three daughters. Everybody warned her never to step foot inside the walls. But she didn’t listen to them. When the first prison basketball game was held, in she went, three girls in tow, and took a seats in the bleachers with the inmates.

She once said, “My husband and I are going to take care of these men, and I believe they will take care of me! I don’t have to worry!”

When she heard that one convicted murderer was blind, she taught him Braille so he could read. Upon learning of inmates who were hearing impaired, she studied sign language so they could communicate. For sixteen years Catherine Lawes softened the hard hearts of the men of Sing Sing. In 1937 the world saw the difference real love makes.

The prisoners knew something was wrong when Lewis Laws didn’t report to work. Quickly the word spread that Catherine had been killed in a car accident. The following day her body was placed in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he noticed a large gathering at the main gate. Every prisoner pressed against the fence. Eyes awash with tears. Faces solemn. No one spoke or moved. They’d come to stand as close as they could to the woman who’d given them love.

They warden made a remarkable decision. “All right, men, you can go. Just be sure to check in tonight.” These were America’s hardest criminals. Murderers. Robbers. These were men the nation had locked away for life. But the warden unlocked the gate for them, and they walked without escort or guard to the home of Catherine Lawes to pay their last respects. And to a man, each one returned.

Real love changes people.

No more “Pelicano”

A research on Pelicano moved my heart greatly.

The Pelicano is the world’s most unwanted ship. Since 1986 she has been the hobo of the high seas. No one wants her. Sri Lanka doesn’t. Bermuda doesn’t. The Dominican Republic turned her away. So do I. 

The problem is not the boat. Though rusty and barnacled, the 466-foot freighter is seaworthy. 

The problem is not the ownership. The owners have kept the license and taxes paid.

The problem is not the crew. They may feel unwanted, but they aren’t inefficient. 

Then what is the problem? What is the reason for years of rejection? Waved in Sri Lanka. Turned away in Indonesia. Why is the Pelicano the most unwanted ship in the world? 

Simple. She is full of trash. Fifteen thousand tons of trash. Orange peelings. Beer bottles. Newspaper. Half-eaten hotdog. Trash.

That’s when the Pelicano entered the picture. The owners thought they would turn a quick penny by transporting the rubbish. The trash was burned, and the ashes were dumped into the belly of the boat. But no one would take it. Initially it was too much. Eventually it was too old. Who wants potentially toxic trash?

I wonder if you can relate to the Pelicano. Are you unwanted at the dock? Drifting farther from friends and family? If so, you might check your heart for garbage Who wants to offer dock space to a smelly heart?

Life has a way of unloading her rubbish on our decks. Your boss expects too much. Your friends whine too much. Your parents gripes too much. The result? Trash. Load after load of anger. Guilt. Pessimism. Bitterness. Bigotry. Anxiety. Deceit. Impatience. It all piles up. 

Trash affects us. It contaminates our relationship. It did Cain’s. He had anger in his mind before he had blood on his hands. And Martha? Martha was meddlesome in her attitude before she was quarrelsome with her tongue. And what about the Pharisees? They killed Christ in their hearts before they killed him on the cross. 

Remember, just because there is trash on the dock, that doesn’t mean there must be trash on your ship. You are not a victim of your thoughts. You have a vote. You have a voice. You can exercise thought prevention. You can also exercise thought permission. 

How could you change the plight of the Pelicano? Change her cargo. Load the decks with flowers instead of trash, presents instead of ash, and no one would turn the ship away. Change the cargo, and you change the ship.

By the same token, change the thoughts, and you change the person. If today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions, what happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s love. Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel about others?

Paul says absolutely! It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. We’ve got to let the good stuff in. It’s not enough to keep no list of wrongs. We have to cultivate a list of blessings.

Rather than store up the sour, store up the sweet.