A Joyous Occasion, To Be Sure

As Of June 3rd:

David Paul Hammer Receives A Stay Of Execution


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Needless to say, we have all breathed a collective relief that David will not be executed on June 8th, as was previously reported, in order that he will be able to resume his appeals.

I have a very good feeling about this. A mass demonstration had been planned for today, June 7th, but it appears as though it will not be necessary at this time. We are hoping that David's sentence will be amended to life without parole. Where there is life, there is hope and I am quite happy that the good-bye letter I had written and mailed to David is now mute.

I never thought I would get the chance to communicate with him again. When Tim got that stay of execution on May 11th, 2001, I had written and said, "Hey, I never, in my wildest dreams imagined that I could resume my letter-writing to you!"

The following is a poem that I have written about David and his second chance at life. He has often said that decisions about one's life should be taken very seriously, as "death is permanent." When I heard that this special and kindhearted man was scheduled for execution on June 8th--tomorrow, at 3 PM---my heart broke. I had somehow convinced myself that he would just keep on living, writing letters and offering kindness to his fellow inmates. He just seemed so invincible to me. I prayed to God and said, "Dear God, if it is Your will, please spare David Paul from the executioner's lethal hands." I believe it was the prayers of all of this man's many supporters that he receive a stay, and so he did!

Now I can resume writing to him, just as I had done with Tim. But I have a comforting feeling that David's sentence will be commuted to live without parole. He is, quite simply, not a cold-blooded killer. He is a sensitive man who has, at times, wished for death, but even as he drifted toward suicide idealation, I knew he had a profoundly powerful survival instinct. I would not have wasted my time and stamps if I thought for one moment that David was a bad man. He arrived where he is because of a lot of very bad circumstances and some confused thinking. Any of us could be where he is. I want people to remember that inmates who are sentenced to death are not just statistics, nor people we are better off without. I was incredulous when I read that David was "scheduled for execution." It sounded like "vollyball was scheduled on Wednesday afternoon, weather permitting." So cold and calculated. So nasty and vindictive.

Right now, I am happily writing another letter to David and it will be one of many. I feel as though I have been spared the lethal injection myself. For all of us die just a little when a human being is killed. I want people to realize that all killing is wrong. Nobody has the right to take a life.

A Glorious Reprieve

With all the battles you have fought,
In a world that suported you not
You picked your battles, you never swayed,
And through it all, you smiled and prayed.

You asked the Lord not what He could do,
To brighten your days and pull you through.
But what you can do to best serve Him,
As days grow shorter and the sunlight will dim.

God was amazed at the kindness of your heart.
So He sent an angel to play a key part
In giving you such a wonderful stay.
Now June 8th will be just another day.

Enigmacat.
2004.

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