2009 April | Jericho Circle Project

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Explore Jericho:

For Men Returning to the Community
Jericho Circle contact Information:
- E-mail: info@jerichocircle.org
- Telephone: (617) 576-1066
Facilitator Training
Jericho Circles is offering training seminars and modules to current and new facilitators, to enable men to become involved in weekly facilitation of our circles.

These pages will provide information on upcoming training opportunities. You may also contact Jericho Circle at:
- E-mail: info@jerichocircle.org
- Telephone: (617) 576-1066
Two worlds

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The truth

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Not much changes

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Make a difference

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Can’t believe

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39 Years …

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the mirror of those men’s eyes

Walking into a prison, hearing the doors clang shut, sitting with a bunch of convicts … I looked into the mirror of those men’s eyes … the rage, victim, and the perpetrator all there before me … in me …
these men deserve to reclaim their humanity

I figure if what we do as free men doesn’t work here, we are kidding ourselves. It is working. These men deserve to reclaim their humanity, passion, respect, emotions – everything – as much as any of us.
for the safety and sanity of the world

I’ve seen many men cry, touch each other, share from the gut and the heart. To witness men inside prison opening in these ways, despite the harsh training to stay closed and tough … has brought me a hope and joy for the goodness and resilience in men – and for the safety and sanity of the world I live in.
affirm the spirit in life

All I truly have in my life is time and my legacy will be how I use that time. Prison time is helping me make the choices that affirm the Spirit in Life.
New Story #1

The point of my new story is to use my garbage to help others. The seed of evil was exposed, as a child being hurt, rejected, deprived. Under years and layers of numbness is the seed of evil. In that seed is hate, anger, hurt, shame. Not a good seed of emotions. Unless like any seed I need to let it grow, take a breath. This happened to me today. My old story, all the garbage today in my dump; in my new story I see reality. I grew up with two of me, the man that tried to do good and the child that never felt good. What I lost the most, the value of life that is what I lost. Today I have found this value in me, I do matter, I do count. I have learned in order to do this work and keep working, I have to be willing to tune into channels I never knew existed. Today, I have started to find one essence of my soul. I lost reverence, what is it? Reverence is engaging in a form of depth of contact with life, that is well beyond the shell of form and into essence, it is contact with the interior of its being-ness and attitude of honoring life.
New Story #2

Before today, I could not forgive myself for the hurt, harm, and destruction I have caused family, friends and community. However, today, I began a journey in which I achieved a process of releasing personal hostilities, disbeliefs and learned behaviors. This has enabled me to slowly begin the process of personal forgiveness. Through the Circle process, I am safe from abuse, antagonism, and harm. I am now aware of who I was and who I am today. Most importantly how I want to live my life and interact with community. I alone hold the power to forgive myself. My new mission statement in life is: a man among men, I develop a world of respect and dignity by loving.
New Story #3

I have learned that God doesn’t make junk. I am a human being who has feelings and emotions. I have learned that life does not have to be fi lled with anger, rage, and pain. It is okay to feel good, it is okay to feel love, it is okay to have an opinion and to voice it.

It is okay to seek and receive forgiveness. There is nothing in my old life and in my new life that I can not be forgiven for, forgiving others and ourselves is good. In my new life it is okay to be me and not what people want me to be, I am no longer the yes man.

It is okay to express love via a hug or by a spoken word. It is okay that I fall on my ass and to get back up and go forward. In my new life I am free from the pain of my past, it is okay to cry. I am not John Wayne nor do I want to be. It is okay to be me, caring, loving and at peace inside. No more do I consider myself a failure. My new life is a learning event on a daily basis. My new life is exciting and fi lled with many new things to learn and see and do. I now have a love for life that I never had before. I am learning to trust, trust is the key I will use to open doors. That Is My New Life.
New Story #4

Jericho Circle has helped me to see that I can be more positive in the world and to others. I can be a beacon of light that can help others see with a clean sense of direction in their life struggles and sense of being along. This past weekend has given me a sense of knowing that I can help someone who has experienced growing up without a father.
I have learned to process and express my feelings in a way that allows my inner child to grow with unconditional love, one that will continuously love and nurture. Jericho Circle has also allowed me to have a vision, one that I never realized. I can be assured that starting today, I can give my medicine to the people who are lost and misdirected in their lives; a positive beacon to follow and not be afraid of being lost or lonely.
“Unlocking Men: Men’s Circles in Prison”

David R. Karp, Ph.D.

Skidmore College

This article is based on research by the author on men’s circles in prison. It focuses on men’s work done in three programs: Jericho Circles (Massachusetts), Inside Circles (Folsom Prison in Sacramento, California) and the T.R.U.T.H. Project in Wisconsin. It appears in the Offender Programs Report (Vol. 12, No. 5) Jan/Feb, 2009

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