I want to take a moment to extend thanks to the members of the DotCommonweal community who agreed to pray for the candidates at the Kairos retreat that was held over the weekend of November 7-10.The retreat was held in the prison gymnasium, a very large (and also very drab) place. Over the course of the weekend, we hung paper hands, the prayer scroll with your names on it, and other artwork and posters made by people and groups around the world who were praying for the men. The men were amazed that so many people who did not even know them would care enough to take the time to pray for them.One man--a man who will likely never leave the prison--said that the weekend had made him realize that he had cut himself off from other people. "There was a poet who said 'no man is an island' and that is what I had become. I don't think we're supposed to be islands."If you want to read a few more comments from the candidates, click here.