Notes of Concern…
….Jackson Blair
A LEOPARD CHANGED HIS SPOTS
When most of us were growing up there was an old saying that
“a leopard cannot change his spots.”
This was an abbreviated way to say people do not change
throughout their lives and what you see is pretty much what you get from
beginning to end with any person.
When I think of Chuck Colson, who died recently, I think
both the saying and the selection of the animal, a leopard, has meaning. Colson
operated very much like a leopard during his political heyday.
Wikipedia comments on leopards as follows:
The species' success in the wild is in
part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior,
its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58
kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when
carrying a heavy carcass,
and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any
animal that it can hunt down and catch
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s Chuck Colson was one of
the most feared men in Washington. He was a member of President Richard Nixon’s
inner circle from 1969-1973.
To give you an idea of how close he was to the president, he
joined with Chief of Staff Bob Haldemann and Richard Nixon to take the returns
on the evening of the 1972 Presidential Election, a contest in which Nixon was
a landslide winner. Imagine what it must have taken to be invited to that
select gathering.
In the presidents inner circle Chuck Colson was the master
of intrigue, “dirty tricks” and any kind of activity that most of us would have
found unseemly anywhere, but certainly so in The White House.
Wikipedia has this to say about Colson:
Once known as President Nixon's "hatchet
man," Colson gained notoriety at the height of the Watergate affair for
being named as one of the Watergate Seven, and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to
defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel
Ellsberg.
I had the privilege of doing some advance work for The White
House in those days and I met many of the Nixon men. I had a definite opinion
about even those I did not meet from being privy to conversations with people
who knew them well. Colson was regularly regarded as a hardnosed partisan,
dedicated to the person of Richard Nixon, and willing to do whatever was
required to move Nixon forward. Colson was once reported to have said he would
have gladly “run over my grandmother for Richard Nixon.”
After the Watergate Affair and the president’s resignation
Colson was the first aide to actually be incarcerated. A man who stood daily at
the side of a president, maintained offices in The White House, and commanded
large numbers of people and big budgets went from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to a
small prison cell.
During his imprisonment Colson announced a conversion.
He found God.
In addition, he found men around him whom he came to see as
good folks who had done bad things and were in desperate need of a few friends.
Undoubtedly, he saw himself in them.
This conversion and these new interests were the subject of
many news stories and magazine articles. People were largely unconvinced.
I did not “buy” it.
It was difficult for me to imagine people could be so naïve.
This was Chuck Colson! There had to be an “angle” I thought. He had to be
planning some sort of a comeback.
I pretty much forgot about Colson until I read that he was
to receive the Templeton Prize. This prize, donated by Sir John Templeton, and
carrying with it a financial award larger than the Nobel Peace Prize (Colson
received more than one million dollars, refused the money, and asked that it be
given to Prison Fellowship Ministries), was and is one of the most admired
recognitions any man or woman could receive.
A description of the prize reads as follows:
The Templeton
Prize honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to
affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or
practical works.
Each year, many people are nominated for consideration. The
competition is very tough. The jury is exemplary.
I could not imagine Chuck Colson could fool them.
So I read the material announcing the award. Briefly, here
is a summary from the website of the Templeton Prize.
Charles W. Colson, former special counsel to
President Richard Nixon, began Prison Fellowship after serving a sentence in
federal prison for Watergate-related crimes. It is now the largest prison
outreach program in the world, operating a network of ministries in 60 nations.
The organization has made substantial gains in breaking the cycle of crime and
recidivism.
A friend and mentor of mine had become a fan of Colson’s
conversion. I was surprised to receive an invitation to attend the award
ceremony, which was held at The University of Chicago. While still a bit
skeptical, I decided to attend with my friend, mostly out of curiosity.
It was a trip I do not regret.
Colson’s acceptance speech was superb. Listening to him
express his new thinking, comment on what he found in prison, and dedicate his
life to helping one segment of people in a very meaningful way, was moving.
Later I was invited to serve on the board of Prison Ministry
in the northeast United States. I accepted and had a chance to see up close and
personal the good work that those working with Prison Ministries are doing
around our country and the world.
There are few people as lonely as an incarcerated man or
woman.
They are helpless to care for their families and loved ones.
They face years, sometimes a lifetime, of no freedom.
Often their lives are at risk every day.
They are neither innocent nor typically lovable characters
and most have been found guilty by a jury of their peers and are paying their
debt to society.
Yet Chuck Colson created and expanded a network of caring
men and women who would minister to these people in so many ways, including
helping with their families and bringing peace of mind into their lives.
So the heavily spotted leopard that was Charles Colson
between 1969-1973 clearly found a way to change, maybe even eliminate, those
spots.
An often forgotten segment of society is heavily in his
debt.
Hopefully, men and women with similar concerns and good
hearts will continue and grow the good work in which he was engaged.
