Life is strange. The more we think we know the less we realize there is to know. Maybe better said, sometimes life is simple. The explosion of attention surrounding nitrogen hypoxia would make it easy to forget that there is a human in the midst of it all. Tonight, I was talking to Kenny Smith about everything he was/is going through. The pain of it all kept bubbling up. He is not doing well at all. Nausea. Vomiting. Nightmares. Chills. Panic attacks. It would have been easy to stay there caring for him. Trying to make sense of it all. But that’s not what Kenny wanted. Of course, all those things are real… more real than real for him…but he wanted to talk about other things that he was feeling…things beyond belief. So, I stopped trying to solve the symptoms and sat with him as he concentrated on the disease…the incestuous nature of evil. Of course, there is no greater evil for him than what the Alabama Department of Corrections has perpetuated and seeks to perpetuate on him. Repeatedly, he talked about transcending the world…all that has held him back…beating evil for the final time. It was a reminder that we do not battle against flesh and blood…we battle against manifestations of evil that are unseen…even beyond those that we see perpetuating them. Kenny tries desperately to see beyond what is…what is in this moment…to see what is to come. This is a talent that most don’t have. Most simply sit and drown in the horrors of the moment. Not Kenny. He sits and dreams about a destination far beyond this earthly plain. That’s the only way out. The only way beyond the sickness, fear and evil that currently afflicts him. Perhaps, the execution will be stopped. Perhaps, the execution will take place. No matter which path Kenny is forced to walk down…he has assured me that he will be ok. I believe him now more than I ever have. As I sat pondering it all…the things that were being said and the things that were being left unsaid…I was taken aback when Kenny interrupted to pray…seemingly out of nowhere. Of course, he prayed for a healthy number of people and things…but I was particularly surprised when he thanked God for being with me on this journey. The simple words served as a strong reminder. No matter what, God is with us. It’s that simple. Perhaps, there is little else to know beyond that.
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