"Monday, April 30, 1990. This is the day I was rescued. From what? Myself”
—Robert Shafer
On April 29th, 1990, Robert Shafer shot and killed two men, Jerry Parker and Keith Young. "No excuses," he says. He blames no one but himself for what happened on that day.
Shafer "knew better, but chose not to be better." He claimed he had shot one victim, and no victims, and both victims. He caused trouble for everyone who tried to help him, and in the end, after many court challenges, he was sentenced to life without parole.
It didn't happen right away, but little by little, year by year, Shafer began to change. He began taking classes on the "Impact of Crime on Victims," and "Overcoming Grief and Trauma". Before long he became a teacher of these classes to others, and began to understand that God was working in his life. Today, after 34 years in prison he has worked at every kind of prison job available. Instead of seeing every day in prison as a day closer to death, he says, "life without parole allowed me to see every day as an opportunity to shine."
So, how does this metamorphosis happen? It's not an anomaly. Many mature inmates change drastically after years in prison, and for most, it's all in their heads.
According to Mental Health Daily, "When you’re 18, you’re only about halfway through the process of brain development. The immature prefrontal cortex has poor impulse control and inadequate decision making abilities." No wonder we have jails and prisons full of juveniles, and 60+-year-old lifers who committed crimes as teenagers. Shafer, like many young offenders, was abused as a kid. His bitterness and anger led him to be short on empathy and remorse, but his lack of impulse control and his inability to make good decisions when he committed his crimes were caused by a brain that was far from fully developed.
Loving our children and instilling them with ethics and values is the best way to help keep them from making dangerous choices as they grow into young adults. Roger Shafer didn't have that. Because of his crime, he will die in prison. But, with a fully mature mind and a heart for others, he is finding wholeness, as he walks prison halls humming, the old hymn, "This Little Light of mine."
There are far more Roger Shafers in prison than you may think.
Jim
