Finding Grace Within

by Shannon O'Donnell

Jail and prison are places filled with people struggling to make sense of what they have done. No one plans to come here. Most people would do almost anything to avoid it. Others would rather not know what goes on here at all. Lock the doors. Lose the key.For a chaplain, this is sacred ground. Behind the bars are people with families, jobs, hopes, and the knowledge they have inflicted harm on others. A thousand tales beg to be told. A chaplain ventures into this place, learning to recognize the human beings hiding behind jokes and tough guy reputations. Then she tells the stories.

220 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2018

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was eager to read this book because I’d read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson earlier this year, a man who fights for justice in ways that sometimes results in saving people’s very lives, and often results in restoring their rights and freedoms. O’Donnell’s work as a chaplain, I suspected, entailed saving their souls, and restoring their relationships to others & God.

I should have known better: O’Donnell instead shares the moments she sees God working in these desolate places, never taking any credit for the graces she brings with her through those many doors. She tells of the nuts and bolts of her job (getting people Bibles; teaching Prison 101); the improv moments (how to turn a Mass into a service on the fly when the priest can’t make it; how to help someone say the rosary when rosary beads are contraband); the typical moments someone needs a chaplain (hearing a loved one at home has died; confronting some of their past deeds now that they’re sober).

Then there are moments that the reader suspects came about just because O’Donnell was around, whether she takes any credit or not, because they reflect her own gifts. The Night of the Arts, the Envelope Project ... if these could be dusted for prints, we’d find at least a partial of O’Donnell’s somewhere on them.

Throughout this book, O’Donnell will tell you that she’s there for the stories. So let her tell them to you. Listen as she humanizes these people & places & experiences. Pay attention when she tells you that in one gathering of about 20 young men, she found two who had been victims of different school shootings. Then let that sink in. Feel the warmth from the kindness of strangers, even as you are chilled by the inhumanity of a system that would separate a couple in a woman’s dying days over a 30-year-old warrant. Best of all, watch as she bears out the maxim that people never forget how you make them feel, as she tells story after story of running into people on the outside who recognize her years later & greet her warmly.

When you need to remember how we’re all just trying to get through this life, or you need to count your blessings, or you need a reminder of all the people making this world a little brighter each day, reach for this book. And let Shannon O’Donnell tell you a story...

[Sharon Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I laughed out loud a few times and was moved to tears many more. The author’s style of writing is perfect for this subject matter. I’ll need to let this one ‘settle’ awhile before I start reading anything else. Glad I read it. Makes me want to copy an idea in a later chapter and donate a case of composition books. Something thing I will do differently now is watch spring/summer clouds the way Shannon suggested a prisoner do it. Thanks for that.

[May It Glorify Christ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it!

I am grateful to have read it and can also better direct some prayer time thanks to Shannon O'Donnell and Finding Grace Within.