What is your perception of people who are in jail or who have been incarcerated? Naturally, they are not the kind you would desire to spend time with or engage in conversations. In fact, many people wish they had tags or marks on their foreheads to make them easily recognizable. It is not until you have read Naked as a Jailbird that it dawns on you that they have a human face and desires, just like you.
Richard Shaw writes the book from the perspective of a prison chaplain. His eyes are compassionate as expected, but this is not his motivation to write the book. You will not see him pleading with people to change their ways. He gives a narrative of a reality that people assume exists and will be surprised to realize that there are people living this reality.
It is not lost to Richard Shaw that the society labels these prisoners as criminals, outcasts and person who deliberately got themselves in the mess. It is only when you spend time with them that you realize that there is more to their lives than being criminals. Many people will not believe that some are innocent. Others think that this claim is made to justify incarceration. Richard Shaw has a different story to tell.
Prison life has been portrayed in movies and books as harsh as well as unbearable. It is a situation where peace is not existent. This is the environment that religious leaders are expected to spread the God News. It leaves you wondering what the definition of hope is in an environment where you await death. A minister has problems talking about repentance and forgiveness.
Is prison ministry for everyone and can one approach the ministry like you would ministry to ordinary citizens? This is a tough question to answer. The people who are imprisoned are different from those who are roaming freely around. It takes special grace to deal with some of the stories you will encounter in these prison facilities. According to Shaw, you need special grace to minister in this environment.
The author questions the role played by prisons in the society and world today. They are supposed to be agents of change, yet this is not demonstrated in what one finds with imprisoned people. In fact, the writer points out that people change as soon as the reality strikes that they are imprisoned. However, they are never accorded the benefit of living the change outside. This makes prison a gate to eternal condemnation, an aspect that is not part of their foundation principle.
The choice of such words as naked points at a helpless situation. It leaves you thinking about the form of nakedness that people in prison experience. This is a place with no secrets. How does it affect the people who go in and how do they live? The book exposes what else these people are stripped of apart from their cloths.
The book is a quick read that will transform your idea of prison life. It will surprise you that prison warders and other staff could be in greater prisons than the actual prisoners. What about ministering in prison? The answer lies deep in the paragraphs.
Richard Shaw writes the book from the perspective of a prison chaplain. His eyes are compassionate as expected, but this is not his motivation to write the book. You will not see him pleading with people to change their ways. He gives a narrative of a reality that people assume exists and will be surprised to realize that there are people living this reality.
It is not lost to Richard Shaw that the society labels these prisoners as criminals, outcasts and person who deliberately got themselves in the mess. It is only when you spend time with them that you realize that there is more to their lives than being criminals. Many people will not believe that some are innocent. Others think that this claim is made to justify incarceration. Richard Shaw has a different story to tell.
Prison life has been portrayed in movies and books as harsh as well as unbearable. It is a situation where peace is not existent. This is the environment that religious leaders are expected to spread the God News. It leaves you wondering what the definition of hope is in an environment where you await death. A minister has problems talking about repentance and forgiveness.
Is prison ministry for everyone and can one approach the ministry like you would ministry to ordinary citizens? This is a tough question to answer. The people who are imprisoned are different from those who are roaming freely around. It takes special grace to deal with some of the stories you will encounter in these prison facilities. According to Shaw, you need special grace to minister in this environment.
The author questions the role played by prisons in the society and world today. They are supposed to be agents of change, yet this is not demonstrated in what one finds with imprisoned people. In fact, the writer points out that people change as soon as the reality strikes that they are imprisoned. However, they are never accorded the benefit of living the change outside. This makes prison a gate to eternal condemnation, an aspect that is not part of their foundation principle.
The choice of such words as naked points at a helpless situation. It leaves you thinking about the form of nakedness that people in prison experience. This is a place with no secrets. How does it affect the people who go in and how do they live? The book exposes what else these people are stripped of apart from their cloths.
The book is a quick read that will transform your idea of prison life. It will surprise you that prison warders and other staff could be in greater prisons than the actual prisoners. What about ministering in prison? The answer lies deep in the paragraphs.
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