Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Rev. K’s Kwerys

October 7, 2007
Rev. Kurt Kuhwald

During my reintroduction to the Congregation back in mid August, Board Chair Bryce Perry asked (I supplied the words): “When you add Berkeley to Palo Alto, that makes Rev. Kurt a full time congregational minister; so why does he say he’s a Community Minister?” The answer was: “Kurt’s work in congregational transformation, in directly addressing the global crises we face and what David Korten (author and visionary) calls the ’Coming Perfect Economic Storm,’ and in countering oppression at both the intimately personal and the systemic levels, is all part of his ministry. […] the larger community is what he calls us to address; so, the label ‘Community Minister’ is what he claims as his true work. ”

One way I have personally chosen to address the larger community, as an emissary of Unitarian Universalism and now of UUCPA, is to write and visit a man in a State Prison in Delano (I’ll call him “RM”). We have been writing now for over two years; I just visited him for the second time on Friday (9/28). I do this because I have always been deeply disturbed by the prison system, and my concern has only grown as the system, designed for 100,00, has grown to 170,000, with three quarters of the prisoners being other than white.

I choose to be in on-going relationship with RM because I want to locate my life near the center of where our society is failing. It is why I live in San Francisco’s Tenderloin: the raw and painful consequence of the social system we have devised and support at great cost. Our State’s Prison’s are also one of the “centers” of failure, some of the most horrific of our time: Delano’s maximum security prison sees punishment as its modus operandi offering virtually no recreation, education, or rehabilitation programs. Prisoners self-divide by racial groups and violence is an on-going reality — between prisoners and between staff and prisoners — as is widespread drug use, much of it supplied by unscrupulous guards.

What I want to describe here is the triumph of RM’s spirit. After losing his parents at 10 years old, he was thrown into the Juvenile “justice” system because there was no other place to put him. After a series of abusive Foster Home placements, he lived on the streets, ultimately becoming addicted to Heroin. Incarcerated for a total of 30+ years, he had a spiritual awakening near mid-life. He is one of the best-educated people I know (he never “graduated” from elementary school), and one of the most grounded spiritually. He has dedicated his life to serving other inmates, while following a deep spiritual practice centered in his Indigenous roots and in Buddhism. It is an honor to be in his presence. I am so grateful that I can be supportive of his journey.

Please keep him in your thoughts/prayers. I would be happy to give you his name in private.

— For the Turning,
Rev. Kurt