Answer Magazine

One Last Wish

You’ve been given one wish—anything you want. What would you choose? Would you be practical, and ask for endless extra wishes? Or would you be philosophical, and want to know the meaning of life? Maybe you’d travel the world with your family, order up a self-cleaning house, or pad your pockets with millions of dollars? Why not get away from it all in a time machine—reverse the clocks and discover the Fountain of Youth? This wishing thing has got some serious possibilities.

What if that choice is the last one you’ll ever get, and you can’t take it with you. You have to use it now, there’s no turning back, and your options are limited. In this case, you can be selfish. Who would blame you, at this moment, in this last request? Better choose wisely.

If you’re an inmate on Death Row, this is an eventual, ever-present reality, a fact of life—a matter of course. Last May, Philip Workman, convicted of the crime of murder, faced such a decision. His meal request, vegetarian pizza, was just a blip on the justice system radar, or should have been. So why was this newsworthy? For the simple reason that Philip Workman’s wish wasn’t granted, in his lifetime. On May 9th, 2007, at 1 a.m., the executioner administered a lethal injection into his veins. At 1:38 a.m., he was pronounced dead.¹

Later that day, as the story unfolded, pizzas started to arrive all over the country for Philip Workman.

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" But he said this to test him, for he well knew what He was about to do.” John 6:5-6

The journey that led this man to that lonely hall known as Death Row was short and harrowing. Philip was only 28 when he found himself in the worst trouble of his life. Drugs circumvented his future; he struggled to provide for his family and his habit, two priorities at odds with each other. His cocaine-habit usually won. Despite his age, Philip had already left the military, experienced jail and homelessness, but couldn’t seem to get back on track. All roads converged one day outside a Memphis Wendy’s Restaurant where, moments earlier, Philip sought drug money in a hold-up gone awry. A young police officer, Lt. Ronald Oliver, was shot in a skirmish during the arrest, and killed.

Philip Workman was tried, convicted and eventually sentenced to Riverside Bend’s Death Row. Ironically, he’d never be homeless again.

It’s said that God works in mysterious ways. Reverend Joe Ingle, long-time spiritual mentor to Philip Workman, offered up proof. After eight years on Death Row, “Philip felt God had favored him in ways totally unexpected, for which he was truly grateful.” He points to the prisoner’s religious metamorphosis, which occurred during his incarceration. “Philip felt he was a ‘lost soul’ when he robbed that Wendy’s, and after surrendering his life to God, he felt he was ‘robed’ in the new clothes of Christ.”

Friends for over 12 years, Joe and Philip had plenty of time to share their love of Jesus together. Joe emphasizes Philip’s “profound faith” and “strong sense of justice,” surprising descriptors in connection with a convicted prisoner. But his sincerity was obvious to those around him, and the change manifested not only in the man’s words but also in his behavior. It was a conversion so profound, that Joe Ingle had only one word to describe it, “metanoia-” a Greek word meaning “a deep spiritual awakening, or transformation.”

Philip often spoke about a recurring dream in which God was calling out to him. “I just kept going deeper [into a hole]... I’d get tired and I’d stop and a rope would come snaking down.” When Philip reached for the rope, to his surprise, it was not yanked away. “It just started pulling me up out of this hole, and about halfway up, it turned into an arm, and the arm was the arm of Jesus Christ. What it told me was I had sunken so far down inside myself, that He was real…and that I better get started finding out about some things.”²

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Psalm 40:2

What the new disciple discovered, through Biblical study and the aid of his spiritual mentor, was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Philip Workman accepted forgiveness and the blessings offered to him through a new life in Christ. In return, he ministered in his own small but profound way to others who needed him, too. “There were a lot of people,” Joe said, “a strong circle of people in Nashville who really cared a lot about him, and who truly loved him.”

While Philip found peace in God, friends, and family, clemency from the State never arrived. A final date was set. His spent his remaining time preparing spiritually to abandon his physical life and join God in the eternal one.

On the night of his execution, Philip Workman was given one last request, anything he wanted for his last meal. He chose a vegetarian pizza, but asked that it be donated to any homeless person near the prison. His selfless request was denied.

“Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennies’ (forty dollars) worth of bread is not enough that everyone may receive even a little.” John 6:7

Early the following morning, in the death chamber, Philip Workman’s last words, “I’ve prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ not to lay charge of my death to any man.” And then, “I commend my spirit into your hands, Lord Jesus Christ.” Moments later, he began his eternal life.

Later that morning, Nashville’s Oasis Center, an agency that works with 260 homeless youth, was among the first to receive pizza deliveries, thanks to a Minneapolis radio station broadcasting Philip Workman’s story. Hal Cato, CEO of the agency, revealed their overall intake of donated pizzas reached 50—so many that they requested a store credit. The shelter can draw down on the pizzas as needed.

“Jesus said, Make all the people recline. Now the ground was covered with thick grass at the spot, so the men threw themselves down, about 5,000 in number. Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to the disciples and the disciples to the reclining people; so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.” John 6:10-11

The Nashville Union Rescue Mission also was the beneficiary of the community’s generosity, receiving over 1,000 pizzas during that week. Among those were $1200 dollars worth of pies—150 to be exact—courtesy of Nashville resident Donna Spangler. “Philip Workman was trying to do a good deed…” she told reporters. “I just felt like I had to do something positive.”³

Over the next few days, new volunteers offered gifts of money, service, and time. Cliff Tredway, director of public relations at the Rescue Mission, was pleased by the community’s reaction, but pointed to the true Source of the response. “It just shows you that God can use anything and anyone, at anytime, to do His work. And sometimes He speaks a little louder than at other times. And this time He spoke with a roar.”

That “roar” spread across the nation, as pizzas, in independent efforts, flooded various shelters. At the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, hundreds of people were fed free pizza, courtesy of local college students. In Connecticut, 150 pizzas went to shelters across the state. A law student organized the campaign, and his efforts fed over 500 people.

“When they all had enough, He said to His disciples, “Gather up now the fragments, so that nothing may be lost and wasted. So accordingly they gathered them up, and they filled twelve baskets with fragments left over by those who had eaten from the five barley loaves.” John 6:12-13

The consequences of Workman’s last choice continued to resonate. In New York City, June 18-22, eyeBLINK Entertainment, a not-for-profit multi-cultural organization, held a weeklong celebration of pizza for the homeless, providing music and pizza at a different shelter each day. For every large pizza that event organizer Obaid Kadwani purchased for the homeless, Pizza Hut donated a Full House (extra large) pizza. Thanks to their efforts, over 1,500 hungry New Yorkers were fed.

“Many of the people served at this shelter are not homeless but are part of our nation’s working poor,” Mr. Kadwani said of what he learned that week. Men and women, he continued, who have jobs but still struggle to make ends meet. In addition, shelters often provide food for displaced children, senior citizens and the disabled. Mr. Kadwani hoped the efforts, triggered by Workman’s request, highlighted the issues, and encouraged others to volunteer themselves to their neighbors and communities. “Everyone has something to give,” he said.

“Jesus also said to the man who had invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors... But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame and the blind. Then you will be blessed, because they have no way of repaying you, and you will be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12-14

If everyone has something to give, and God can use anyone, at any time, in unexpected ways, then it stands to reason that you are included in this plan. After all, you’ve all been blessed, and empowered, with spiritual, mental or physical gifts to do something far more significant and purposeful than you can imagine. If you were given one wish today, would you choose to let God provide for others through you? Are you brave enough to commit your life wholly to His work? Or will you spend your life doing wholly for yourself? The decision is yours.
It’s time to choose wisely!

References:

1. http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/2007/05/17/Witness_to_an_Execution
2. http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/jan01/0285.html
3. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/09/execution.pizza/index.html

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