MUST READS for a Successful Reentry
Welcome to the second edition of the Spiritual Survival Guide for Prison and Beyond. It's exactly what it sounds like, a tool that engenders hope, nourishes prisoners' faith, strengthens their relationships with Jesus, and is a helpful aid to discovering a positive new self. It deals with questions inmates often ask, as well as the questions they're afraid to ask. Written by Pastor Fred Nelson, the Spiritual Survival Guide was originally developed by Redeemer Church, Park Ridge, Illinois, for their Under the Door Prison Ministry at Stateville Prison in Joliet, IL.
About six months before I went home it occurred to me that I really was going home. I became very anxious. Everything started bothering me. Inmates were driving me nuts. I found new hatred for the guards. Standing in chow lines made my heart pound. And if I couldn't get on the phone...
Deep, lasting, personal change - it's something we yearn for, something we resists, and something that's really, really hard to achieve. We both welcome and resist change, simultaneously pray for it and run away from it. Just think back on all those times when you...
Odds are, you probably could use a coach over the next couple of years as you go through reentry. But odds also are, that you probably dont' think you do. We want you to think again. Read on, and we'll explain why.
Image that you woke up this morning in the middle of a minefield. You're in the middle of a minefield, and it's smoky and foggy. You can't see ten feet in front of you. And you can't stay for long where you are, because, on every side you see danger and destruction. Landmines! You hear voices yelling, "Do this! Don't do that!" What do you do?
When I was in my early 20's, I worked at a summer camp in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One of the jobs I had was to spot for horse vaulting. Basically, I ran alongside the horses as young campers would do gymnastics on top and I was tasked with catching them if they fell off. One of the first lessons we would give is, "Where your eyes go, your body will follow. If you look down, you will fall down."