To the editor:

In a time of budget-cuts and uncertainties, I think that we (as a society) should focus more on volunteerism. Government can serve many functions, but one thing it cannot replace is the friendly warmth of human-interactions connecting with each other. I have to say that volunteering need not be serving on a committee or service-organization (although those are nice). It can also include visiting your elderly shut-in relatives or even people we don’t know at health-care facilities. It can also include visiting inmates at jails. I know that may sound like a scary thing, but years ago when I was younger and healthier, I did both a Methodist prison-ministry and a Catholic prison-ministry to the infamous Leavenworth Penitentiary accompanying my good friend, the late Archbishop James Patrick Keleher, archbishop-emeritus of Kansas City, Kan., who recently died this past November 2024 at the age of 93. I admit, I did feel scared at first. I sat on the front pew in their prison chapel (something I rarely did in my own church). I observed how Archbishop Jim pleasantly mingled with the inmates. Some, you could tell were there just to get a “free-hour.” However, the archbishop told me to focus on the one or two men who sincerely wanted to visit and repent. That was a lesson of volunteerism in action.

For years, I have been impressed by the endeavors of the late Rabbi Julius J. Price, Ph.D. He was nationally-known for decades as “the jailhouse Chaplain.” He was very civic-minded, he earned a Doctorate, and belonged to such groups such as the Council of Kadosh. He truly cared about people -- inside and outside of jail walls. Back in June 1934, he said that the grandest times are not when we are elbowing for a conspicuous place, but when reticent and reflective, quiet and prayerful, we wait on our own destiny in secret (meaning: our private times or thoughts).

Rabbi Price said that he didn’t recommend absolute seclusion as an advantage to anybody. He recommended frequent social-interaction with the living world to keep the mind healthy and vigorous; plus, enabling us to see and compare other points-of-view.

I like his perspective. I think if more of us did that type of thing, we would see a lot more harmony in Society.

James A. Marples

Esbon