"A beautiful testimony of how our shared-life in God is renewed through story. It shows the reconciling power of God's love in our openness and vulnerability - the way to Peace. If you want to see who we are created to be for one another, read this book. It is a wake-up call."
Sr. Helen Prejean
Author of DEAD MAN WALKING
On a morning in September, Bill Dyer stopped at an ATM on his way out of town for work. Moments later he was robbed and shot and left in the street to die. During many months in the hospital, Bill craved revenge; he obsessed about it. Filled with anger, hatred, and resentment, Bill never imagined that one day he would felt led to go into prison and share the impact of the crime with inmates.
Doing Time with God is one of the most memorable restorative justice books because, through the stories, you go into prison with Bill and other crime victims to meet with inmates in a restorative justice circle. Nothing is ever predictable when they come together, open up, and listen to each others' life experiences for purposes of healing, restoration, and rehabilitation.
Victim-survivors remember all that they have lost; they share their pain and the ways in which their lives have never been the same; and they talk about how the crime still affects them...many years later. Offenders are confronted with the pain and hurt that they have caused, and they open up wounds from past hurts of their own. Walls of fear and defensiveness are leveled by vulnerability, compassion, and tears.
Raw emotions pour out. The journey to peace is messy, turbulent, and intense. Sometimes it is heartbreaking. But even when it isn't pretty, the way to peace is beautiful in how it unfolds and miraculous in the way that lives are transformed.
If you have been in search of the best restorative justice in prisons books, you are in a great place. Doing Time With God shines light on what it is to experience an in-custody restorative justice program. Of the many restorative justice books on the market today, people are searching for the best restorative justice reading list that gives them the information they are seeking.
However, Doing Time With God is one of the best books on restorative justice that belongs with the best when it comes to giving the reader an experience of restorative justice in prisons. The reason is because it reveals the healing power of stories that are based on actual conversations between offenders and crime victim participants. Not only that, the stories apply to a broad spectrum of people - with victims of violence on one end and hardened offenders on the other, accounting for a vast number of people in between.
For readers who are interested in restorative justice readings in general, how God is working to heal people and repair the harm caused by crime (as much as possible), or perhaps growing and becoming more aware on their personal journey, Doing Time With God is a great choice for books about restorative justice.
While reading this book, you may experience these things happening in yourself. Discussion questions and an afterword by the author invite you to reflect on your own journey, discover new meaning, and expand this movement of Peace in your life.
The Best Restorative Justice Books For Victims And Offenders Have One Thing In Common: They Demonstrate How Restorative Justice Reduces Recidivism And They Show The Power Of God's Healing Presence Through Empathy, Compassion, And Remorse.