Resources

As we discussed throughout our commentary, the “Breakthrough” to the interior life requires an active act of “repentance” or “Metanoia,” a spiritual movement in a new and novel direction. There is a real and tangible possibility of “living” this movie in a sense; to follow the transformative triumph that Red modelled for us through his courage and bravery in overcoming his despair, doubts and fears and emerging victoriously on the path of Spiritual Redemption.

On the practical level, the “Call to Adventure” begins with the symbolic gift of the “harmonica.” As we suggested, this “gift” represents the initial reading and exploration about the “inside,” “within,” the “interior” dimensions that appeared throughout the film.

Here are a handful of suggested readings in three phases that might correspond to the evolutionary development of Red’s soul.

PHASE 1

When Andy gave Red the harmonica, and he later blew it in his cell, (his “Breakthrough,” “Metanoia”) this would correspond with Red beginning to read from the following books:

* = Highly recommended

Albert the Great – On Union with God

Sister Wendy Becket – On Prayer *

David Benner – Desiring God’s Will *

Edward Farrell – Prayer is a Hunger

Thomas Kelly – A Testament of Devotion *

Douglas Steere – Dimensions of Prayer

Mary Strong – Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood

PHASE 2

When we see Red and Andy in the library, talking about “Randall Stevens,” the “New Man” who Andy “conjured out of thin air,” we might imagine Red reading from the following group:

Joan Chittister – The Breath of the Soul *

Kathryn Hermes – Beginning Contemplative Prayer *

Rufus Jones – The Luminous Trail

Thomas Keating – The Heart of the World

William Law – The Spirit of Prayer *

Thomas Merton – The New Man

Evelyn Underhill – The School of Charity *

PHASE 3

Finally, after Andy’s escape, we might envision Red immersing himself in the following volumes:

Ruth Burrows – To Believe in Jesus *

Jean-Pierre de Caussade – Abandonment to Divine Providence

Benedict Groeschel – Spiritual Passages

Jean Grou – Spiritual Maxims

Romano Guardini – The Art of Praying

Thomas Keating – Open Mind, Open Heart *

Thomas Merton – New Seeds of Contemplation *

We have emphasized above the book by Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart.

This volume, like the Count of Monte Cristo, is also about a “prison break” – a “Spiritual prison break” out of the lower self. In these pages, you learn, in the words of Andy: “How the system works.”

Organizations & Communities

Without question, the best organization on the interior life is the Contemplative Outreach. Their website is a veritable treasure trove of information, links, videos, prayer groups etc. for those who seek to follow Red on the “Outside.”

In general, one might say that this is an organization of individuals who have been successfully “paroled” out of Shawshank and are currently living on the “Outside,” at the “Brewer.” There are also a select few who have “arrived in Buxton,” like Red and are actively engaged in the next leg of the “long journey.”

Here is the link to their website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org