Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action

John Dear, a Jesuit priest, directs the Fellowship of Reconciliation, "the largest, oldest interfaith peace organization in the United States." Since 1915, the organization has advocated nonviolence as the only sure path to peace; its members have included Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Merton, and Helen Prejean. Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action is a spiritual handbook for readers who seek to make peace in their lives and in the world. The journey to peace, as Dear describes it, is composed of an Inner Journey (involving solitude, silence, prayer, and mindfulness), and a Public Journey (involving direct political action), which, undertaken together, make possible reconciliation and transformation on a global level. "If we try, and keep trying, and stay faithful to the journey unto our last breath, we will find great joy and a peace not of this world, knowing that we serve not only the human family but the God of peace." Dear's book includes historical anecdotes and concise descriptions of particular challenges facing American readers today ("If we want to live in peace, we must learn to love the people of Iraq."), but his descriptions of spiritual exercises, particularly his own morning devotions, may be the most compelling parts of Living Peace. --Michael Joseph Gross