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Ten Commandments for the Long Haul
"I have a sense that the times themselves, apart from more or less deliberately created crises, render strong things fragile, and fragile things mortally endangered. The times themselves are a permanent crisis." So writes Daniel Berrigan in this journal of reflections and musings from the late 1970s. First published in 1981, this book traces Berrigan's work after his release from Danbury Prison in 1972 for his part in the Catonsville Nine antiwar demonstration--from his experiences in Palestine, Northern Ireland, and France (where he lived with Thich Nhat Hanh), to his experiences as a teacher in Manitoba and Berkeley. Throughout, Berrigan ponders the commands of Christ, the struggle to be faithful to these commands, and why so few take them seriously. With wit and wisdom, Berrigan shares his faith journey and encourages us to stay faithful to that journey, to be peacemakers for the long haul.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
32 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Berrigan
154 books51 followersDaniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American Jesuit priest, college professor, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2025
This is not exactly the book of practical advice for nonviolent activists promised by the title. Instead, it's a rather curious mix of memoir, theological reflection, and humorous aphorisms. With Berrigan, the three are not always distinguishable from one another and genre can be a fairly fluid concept at times. This book is definitely an instance of Berrigan's writing at its most fluid in this regard.
Berrigan took the Gospel very much at face value. Once he had embraced the role of peacemaker, he saw it as his duty to reach out to and befriend those who used violence for political purposes, by way of loving the enemy. Obviously, this is not a pursuit for the faint-hearted. For example he discusses a trip to Israel via Lebanon and Syria, where he met Palestinian leaders (including Arafat) to learn about the plight of Palestinians. 'There was admiration in the eyes of these bold men of iron; we were strangers indeed, but we could not be accounted enemies.' He recounts being assured by Hawatmah that his group had abandoned terrorism, then finding out a few weeks later that the same group had seized a school in Galilee and killed multiple children and others: 'Our revulsion and anger can perhaps be imagined. There was the question of murder, there was the question of deceit: a deceit wrought by those who had posed as our friends.' As well as feeling personally betrayed, Berrigan saw these individuals as betraying their own people by inviting ruthless reprisal upon them. Plus ca change.
On a two-state solution, he predicts that: 'The idealist warriors will become realists, statesmen. The ideologues will turn homeward at last; the historians, the scholars of every discipline, the religious leaders, to be tolerated in the new regime in proportion to their approval of the terror that preceded its existence, the violence that is to follow.' While this statement is certainly a rational prediction, the sad reality is that this description could be said to accurately describe post-independence Ireland. Interestingly, Berrigan also recalls giving a talk in Dublin at the height of the Troubles, and being approached after the event to have a private discussion with some provos:
This is a salutary reminder that it's not only America that has bastardized Christianity by sacralizing the state. The uncomfortable fact is that those in more oppressed situations often do so too, and equally, see no contradiction.
The idea that Catholicism has anything to do with car bombs intrigues and horrifies many in the South of Ireland because we have conveniently forgotten that our young country was actually founded on brothers killing brothers in a bloody civil war. For many years, we pretended the North was nothing to do with us and that the Troubles bore no relationship to us, so we are not entirely blameless.
This is a book in which Berrigan is humble enough to admit that he has made mistakes and learned from them, but is also grappling with what it means to take the Sermon on the Mount seriously. It's not as accessible as some of his other books, but it does contain some fascinating information on his life. His rather zany sense of humour is on show in places also.
The book ends with a series of one-liner aphorisms that, again, do not qualify as advice per se, but do provide an insight into Berrigan's thought processes and dreams. For example:
Berrigan took the Gospel very much at face value. Once he had embraced the role of peacemaker, he saw it as his duty to reach out to and befriend those who used violence for political purposes, by way of loving the enemy. Obviously, this is not a pursuit for the faint-hearted. For example he discusses a trip to Israel via Lebanon and Syria, where he met Palestinian leaders (including Arafat) to learn about the plight of Palestinians. 'There was admiration in the eyes of these bold men of iron; we were strangers indeed, but we could not be accounted enemies.' He recounts being assured by Hawatmah that his group had abandoned terrorism, then finding out a few weeks later that the same group had seized a school in Galilee and killed multiple children and others: 'Our revulsion and anger can perhaps be imagined. There was the question of murder, there was the question of deceit: a deceit wrought by those who had posed as our friends.' As well as feeling personally betrayed, Berrigan saw these individuals as betraying their own people by inviting ruthless reprisal upon them. Plus ca change.
On a two-state solution, he predicts that: 'The idealist warriors will become realists, statesmen. The ideologues will turn homeward at last; the historians, the scholars of every discipline, the religious leaders, to be tolerated in the new regime in proportion to their approval of the terror that preceded its existence, the violence that is to follow.' While this statement is certainly a rational prediction, the sad reality is that this description could be said to accurately describe post-independence Ireland. Interestingly, Berrigan also recalls giving a talk in Dublin at the height of the Troubles, and being approached after the event to have a private discussion with some provos:
What ensued was, as I recall, a heated and ragged exchange around topics like violence, nonviolence, piety, denials of complicity, settings right of the record, denunciations of the British, affirmations of loyalty to the church; a curious Irish stew of every ingredient and savor and surprise; from prime beef to Missus Murphy's overalls. It was ludicrous and tragic, it was music hall and street bloodshed, it summoned the rambunctious ghosts of Parnell and O'Connell and the dead of the Easter uprising, without forgetting the Blessed Virgin Mary and our holy father the Pope. And the rosary. And the bombs. Which may God be our judge, it isn't our people who t'row, but the British, who as long as they occupy our fair land, every Irish lad will be in arms, so help me God.
This is a salutary reminder that it's not only America that has bastardized Christianity by sacralizing the state. The uncomfortable fact is that those in more oppressed situations often do so too, and equally, see no contradiction.
The idea that Catholicism has anything to do with car bombs intrigues and horrifies many in the South of Ireland because we have conveniently forgotten that our young country was actually founded on brothers killing brothers in a bloody civil war. For many years, we pretended the North was nothing to do with us and that the Troubles bore no relationship to us, so we are not entirely blameless.
This is a book in which Berrigan is humble enough to admit that he has made mistakes and learned from them, but is also grappling with what it means to take the Sermon on the Mount seriously. It's not as accessible as some of his other books, but it does contain some fascinating information on his life. His rather zany sense of humour is on show in places also.
The book ends with a series of one-liner aphorisms that, again, do not qualify as advice per se, but do provide an insight into Berrigan's thought processes and dreams. For example:
On Hiroshima day, I had this dream. A heap of atom bombs was put in my arms as I sat cross-legged, quietly on the floor. Suddenly the bombs were changed into round and oval loaves of bread. It was simple as that. Maybe, I thought, the dream was saying something about my vocation. Such a sublime transubstantiation might, as in the case of Jesus, require that one give his life. Not ready, by any means, but willing.
December 1, 2023
This one was dense, and not as engaging as some of his other texts.
January 4, 2017
An extraordinary set of essays from the late 1970sand early 1980s from the Jesuit poet-prophet-priest Dan Berrigan.
Beautiful, challenging, insightful, these essays touch on the spirituality for the long haul.
Wisdom from the past for the present - so that we live.
Beautiful, challenging, insightful, these essays touch on the spirituality for the long haul.
Wisdom from the past for the present - so that we live.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews