Finding God Within: Contemplative Prayer for Prisoners (Revised Edition)

A thoughtful and moving guide on the many benefits of contemplative prayer and meditation taught and guided in a prison setting.

For over a decade, Ray Leonardini has been visiting the incarcerated in Folsom State Prison and other correctional facilities, where he has been teaching and facilitating contemplative prayer--the contemporary manifestation of the ancient Christian meditative tradition. In Finding God Within: Contemplative Prayer for Prisoners, Leonardini demonstrates the extraordinary power of contemplative, or centering, prayer in transforming the lives of prisoners. Leonardini offers insightful analysis of biblical passages that show the power of prayer, faith, and surrender to ease addiction, stress, and despair. Finding God Within is an essential introduction to contemplative prayer for people of all faiths engaged in prison ministry and interested in exploring contemplative prayer mediation.

This new edition includes a new chapter on The Welcoming Prayer, a new foreword and afterword, and a chapter on the documentary based on this book. It replaces the previous edition (9781590565513) published in 2016.

ISBN-13: 9781590566992

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Lantern Publishing & Media

Publication Date: 11-01-2022

Pages: 186

Product Dimensions: 5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)

Ray Leonardini is a former lawyer who practiced government and nonprofit law for nearly 30 years. After his retirement, he turned toward his foremost area of interest: the Christian contemplative tradition. For over a decade, as a volunteer chaplain, he has led meditation groups and taught contemplative prayer and the spiritual journey at Folsom State Prison in California. He is also the Director of the Prison Contemplative Fellowship, an association of current and former prison inmates, chaplains, and volunteers committed to reaching out to prisoners and their families on their travels along the spiritual path.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fourth Edition xiii

Introduction. Contemplative Prayer: A Path to Personal Transformation 1

Part 1 Contemplative Prayer and the Inner Journey 7

Who Am I?

How Do I Stop Talking and "Listen" to the Silence?

Centering Prayer: A Simple Path to Contemplation

In Silence: How Do I Do That?

Silence and the Absence of Noise

Centering Prayer Requires Our Consent

Neither Resist nor Retain Any Thoughts

What Happens during Centering Prayer?

Engaging the Silence

Our Human Condition: The False Self

What Is This False Self and Where Did It Come From?

Centering Prayer Unravels the "Homemade" False Self

The Release of Pain: The Way to Live the Divine Plan

Our True Self: God's Tattoo

Part 2 Living a Contemplative Life 41

The God Within

The Challenges of Centering Prayer

The Seeds of Peace

The Circle

We Are Not Our Thoughts

Meditation Impacts Returning to Prison

Going before the Parole Board

Behind the Masks We Wear

Our Own Private Oasis

The Divine Therapy

A Mother Notices the Change

The Welcoming Prayer

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): The Deep Response

Shame: From Hiding to Healing

Part 3 A Contemplative View of the Gospels 83

The Contemplative Jesus: Model for Meditation

A Nobody Announces a Somebody

The Initiation of Jesus

Night Terror

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

A Prisoner's Reflection on the Prodigal Son

A Most Threatening Proposal

The Decontamination of the Temple

After Our Death: What Can We Expect?

To Whom Am I Indebted?

Segregated No More

Life in the Prison Wilderness

The Roofers

The Incarceration of John the Baptist

An Invitation from Christ

The Meaning of Life

The One Important Truth

The Mystery that Holds Us

Us versus Them

A Contemplative View of the Lord's Passion

The Coming of Christ Our Brother

Part 4 Prisoner to Prisoner: Plain Talk for Desperate Times 147

Why Do You Practice Centering Prayer?

Would You Recommend Centering Prayer to People in Prison?

Centering Prayer and Other Religions

Holding Still, Centering Prayer and the Spiritual Journey

Afterword. An Exchange for All 161

Suggestions for Further Reading and Resources 165

Acknowledgments 167

About the Author

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