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Radical Prayers: On Peace, Love, and Nonviolence
This book offers fifty short prayers to encourage, challenge and inspire you on your nonviolent journey. Prayers cover subjects ranging from healing the environment, ending war, gun violence, poverty and racism, gratitude for the blessings around us and strength to continue on the path for peace, justice and nonviolence. John Dear writes in the introduction, “Prayer and nonviolence go hand in hand. On the one hand, prayer is a daily journey toward ever-deepening intimacy with the God of peace in the Holy Spirit of peace. Through daily quiet meditation, the God of peace we encounter in our prayer disarms us, heals us and strengthens us to go forth and make peace, practice nonviolence and love others…. Nonviolent people turn to God in prayer throughout the day for protection, security, blessings and fecundity. That is the Christian way, the human ideal. That is the path of the peacemaker. …daily meditation is politically dangerous and a threat to the culture of violence and war. As we combine prayer and nonviolence, in this culture of violence and war, we step into a new kind of dangerous mysticism where we lose our allegiance to the nation/state, and become full time citizens of God’s reign…”
139 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2018
4 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
John Dear
56 books30 followersFather John Dear (The Society of Jesus) is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. A Jesuit priest, pastor, peacemaker, organizer, lecturer, and retreat leader, he is the author/editor of 30 books, including his autobiography, “A Persistent Peace.” In 2008, John was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
From 1998 until December 2000, he served as the executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States.
After the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, John served as a Red Cross Chaplain, and became one of the coordinators of the chaplain program at the Family Assistance Center. He worked with some 1,500 family members who lost loved ones, as well as hundreds of firefighters and police officers, while at the same time, he spoke out against the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.
From 2002-2004, he served as pastor of several parishes in northeastern New Mexico. He co-founded Pax Christi New Mexico and works on a nonviolent campaign to disarm Los Alamos. These days, he lectures to tens of thousands of people each year in churches and schools across the country and the world. He also writes a weekly column for the “National Catholic Reporter” at www.ncrcafe.org.
A longtime practitioner and teacher of nonviolence, John has written hundreds of articles and given thousands of talks on nonviolence. John has two masters degrees in theology from the Graduate Theological Union in California.
* BIO EXCERPT FROM http://www.johndear.org/
From 1998 until December 2000, he served as the executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States.
After the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, John served as a Red Cross Chaplain, and became one of the coordinators of the chaplain program at the Family Assistance Center. He worked with some 1,500 family members who lost loved ones, as well as hundreds of firefighters and police officers, while at the same time, he spoke out against the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.
From 2002-2004, he served as pastor of several parishes in northeastern New Mexico. He co-founded Pax Christi New Mexico and works on a nonviolent campaign to disarm Los Alamos. These days, he lectures to tens of thousands of people each year in churches and schools across the country and the world. He also writes a weekly column for the “National Catholic Reporter” at www.ncrcafe.org.
A longtime practitioner and teacher of nonviolence, John has written hundreds of articles and given thousands of talks on nonviolence. John has two masters degrees in theology from the Graduate Theological Union in California.
* BIO EXCERPT FROM http://www.johndear.org/
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 24, 2018
John Dear is a leader in the grassroots movement for peace and non-violence for individuals and nations. These prayers are an aid for those of us who want to make peace a way of life, both for ourselves and for the world.
I greatly admire John Dear. He recently left the Jesuit order because they did not support his peace making work.
These prayers are offered in the right spirit but I sometimes found the language itself to be difficult. They sometimes read more like philosophical fragments than prayers.
However, I found them useful as starting points for thought and, hopefully one day, action. I may find that in rereading these prayers, they may become more active and prayer-like for me.
This is not a book to read in one or two sittings. Although short, it is meant to be read slowly, one or two prayers at a time. I probably would have benefitted by reading it even more slowly than I did (although for me, I went slowly). This is definitely a book I will continue to read and think on.
I greatly admire John Dear. He recently left the Jesuit order because they did not support his peace making work.
These prayers are offered in the right spirit but I sometimes found the language itself to be difficult. They sometimes read more like philosophical fragments than prayers.
However, I found them useful as starting points for thought and, hopefully one day, action. I may find that in rereading these prayers, they may become more active and prayer-like for me.
This is not a book to read in one or two sittings. Although short, it is meant to be read slowly, one or two prayers at a time. I probably would have benefitted by reading it even more slowly than I did (although for me, I went slowly). This is definitely a book I will continue to read and think on.
Displaying 1 of 1 review