Attivista di lunga data, autore e insegnante di nonviolenza, John Dear offre qui il primo commento sui Vangeli sinottici dal punto di vista della nonviolenza attiva. In particolare, in questo volume il commento si concentra sul Vangelo di Luca, tradizionalmente riconosciuto come il 'Vangelo dell'amore e del perdono'. Dear, con una lettura provocatoria e originale del testo, evidenzia la pratica e gli insegnamenti di nonviolenza di Gesù, quale antesignano e persino ispiratore del Mahatma Gandhi: presenza disarmante e curativa verso chi è nel bisogno e, insieme, vero rivoluzionario che sconvolge l'ingiusto status quo, il profeta di Nazareth è una minaccia per le autorità che, perciò, vogliono ucciderlo: proprio la sua morte lo porterà alle vette della nonviolenza, con il perdono dato dalla croce. Questo commento originale è per tutti coloro che cercano qualcosa di vivo e attuale nei Vangeli, e ispirerà soprattutto oggi, tempo di guerra permanente, crescente, di violenza armata e, drammaticamente, di povertà sempre più diffusa. Poiché solo nella nonviolenza si può ancora nascondere la speranza.

A noted peacemaker reflects on Thomas Merton's lessons for peacemaking today.

In this centenary year of Thomas Merton's birth, longtime peace activist and author John Dear shares meditations on Merton's writings on peace and spiritual life. 'The God of peace is never glorified by human violence,' Merton wrote. In the early 1960s, the famous Trappist monk, author, and poet broke new ground through his prophetic writings on nuclear weapons, war, and racism. For Merton these were not only moral challenges. They reflected a deeper spiritual crisis. Among the lessons John Dear has learned from Merton: the connection between contemplation and nonviolence; the importance of faithful reliance on God instead of weapons or war; the need to speak out publicly for disarmament and justice; the importance of silence, solitude, and minduflness; the daily celebration of the resurrection and the wonder of creation. In the end, John Dear invites us to take up Thomas Merton's journey and become mature spiritual seekers who break beyond the accepted norms of religious obligation into universal love, compassion, and friendship with God, that we too might become peacemakers, the beloved sons and daughters of the God of peace.

David Hartsough knows how to get in the way. He has used his body to block Navy ships headed for Vietnam and trains loaded with munitions on their way to El Salvador and Nicaragua. He has crossed borders to meet “the enemy” in East Berlin, Castro’s Cuba, and present-day Iran. He has marched with mothers confronting a violent regime in Guatemala and stood with refugees threatened by death squads in the Philippines. Hartsough’s stories inspire, educate, and encourage readers to find ways to work for a more just and peaceful world. Inspired by the examples of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Hartsough has spent his life experimenting with the power of active nonviolence. Engaging stories on every page provide a peace activist’s eyewitness account of many of the major historical events of the past 60 years, including the Civil Rights and anti–Vietnam War movements in the United States as well as the little-known but equally significant nonviolent efforts in the Soviet Union, Kosovo, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Waging Peace is a testament to the difference one person can make; however, it is more than one man’s memoir: it shows how this struggle is waged all over the world by ordinary people committed to ending the spiral of violence and war.

Deardorff (education, Duke U.) et al. bring together an international group of education and other scholars for 25 chapters on global perspectives and new strategies related to the creation, development, and enhancement of the increasing internationalization in higher education. They provide a conceptual and historical context, including recent developments in the US and the Bologna Process in Europe and its global implications, and discuss different thematic approaches to internationalization (leadership, institutional strategies, outcomes assessment, risk management, international student security, and employee perspectives); internationalization of the curriculum, teaching, and learning processes, as well as developing intercultural and global competences and examining the intersections between the local and global; the abroad dimension and the mobility of students, scholars, institutions, programs, and projects; and regional trends in international education and future directions. Boxes throughout the text highlight institutional, national, and regional experiences to link theory to practice. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jesuit priest Dear was recently nominated by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the Nobel Peace Prize for his writing and his peace activity around the world. Here he finds in the incident of the raising of Lazarus in the Gospel of John evidence that Jesus was calling for a culture of life in this world, rather than promising resurrection after death. His topics include the Kingdom of God is life, I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus' prayer of gratitude, serving the God of Life instead of the Culture of Death, the plot to kill the nonviolent Jesus. Dear includes questions for personal reflection and small group discussion. No index. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The authors (professors of architecture and urban planning at the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) explore the impact of designating Luang Prabang, Laos as a UNESCO World Heritage Zone of Preservation on the built environment of the area. They raise questions concerning the way that the framing or packaging of heritage involved in the World Heritage designation relies on the erasures of 'inconvenient' heritages that are perceived as potentially divisive for local populations, unpalatable for tourists, incongruent with contemporary development, or against the political interests of the state. They examine erasures in the physical environment, the way transformations in the built environment are related to erasures of 'inconvenient heritages' in the sociocultural environment, and the impact of these erasures on the everyday lives of residents. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A selection of short pieces, poems, and excerpts exemplify the philosophy of venerable American Jesuit peace and justice activist Berrigan (b. 1921). John Dear provides an introduction on Berrigan's life and thought. The writings are reflections on Berrigan's work as an activist, the violence he witnessed, and from these events, his thoughts about God, the Bible, and human virtue and weakness. Not indexed, the volume includes a selected chronology of his life and works. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

There are few books on the market that share not only a vision of Jesus' nonviolence, but also ways of living that same nonviolence today. Who better to write such a work than Father John Dear, an internationally known peacemaker?

Put Down Your Sword invites us into Jesus' way of nonviolence, as presented by the gospels. Dear argues that all Christians must follow Christ's example in the ways of peace. Dear then outlines the many actions he himself has taken following the path of nonviolence today, modeling his own vision of peace in this turbulent world.

Spiritual leader and peace activist John Dear guides readers on the path to finding peace within, and bringing harmony to a world torn by hatred and violence, through following in the footsteps of Jesus.
John Dear's efforts on behalf of social justice and world peace have won him international admiration and spurred features in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR's All Things Considered, USA TODAY, and the National Catholic Reporter. Seen by many to be the spiritual heir to the Berrigan brothers, Dear believes that the key to the spiritual life is not just finding inner peace, but also bringing that peace to bear on the outside world. In his latest work, Dear uses the Gospel account of the Transfiguration, inviting readers to shape their lives along the story of Jesus and to continue his mission of love and peace. These practices have sustained him through his work with the homeless in Washington, D.C., and New York City, as a human-rights advocate in Northern Ireland and Iraq, and on his many missions for peace in war-torn places around the world. Dividing the lifelong pursuit of peace into three distinct parts—an inner journey, a public journey, and the journey of all humanity—he delves into the challenges of learning to love ourselves as we are, diffusing the hatred we feel toward others, and embracing the choice to live in peace.

Boldness and a gift for improvising verse enable eight-year-old African American Daisy Turner to triumph over an incident of discrimination in her nineteenth century rural Vermont school. Told in Daisy's voice, the book's themes of identity and self-affirmation offer a powerful lesson to today's youngsters who face similar situations of prejudice and stereotyping in twenty-first century classrooms. Suggestions on the concluding page provide creative ways for young readers to develop their own storytelling style in verse. Ages 6-10.

A collection of seminal writings reveal the heart and soul of a man whose message of nonviolence bears special relevance to all spiritual seekers today. Original.

The books of Jeremiah and Lamentations cannot be separated from the political conditions of ancient Judah. Beginning with the righteous king Josiah, who ushered in a time of glorious but brief religious reform, Jeremiah reflects the close tie between spiritual and political prosperity or disaster, between the actions and heart of Judah and her kings and their fortunes as a nation.While few of us today have any firsthand understanding of what it means to live in a theocracy, the central theme of Jeremiah and Lamentations remains clear and still holds true: God first, politics second. The words, prayers, and poems of 'the weeping prophet' serve to realign us with God's priorities, turning us from evil and encouraging us to pursue God and his ways. With emotion and spiritual depth, these prophetic writings beckon us toward a spiritual integrity that can still affect the course of individuals and nations today.Most Bible commentaries take us on a one-way trip from our world to the world of the Bible. But they leave us there, assuming that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. They focus on the original meaning of the passage but don't discuss its contemporary application. The information they offer is valuable--but the job is only half done!The NIV Application Commentary Series helps bring both halves of the interpretive task together. This unique, award-winning series shows readers how to bring an ancient message into our postmodern context. It explains not only what the Bible meant but also how it speaks powerfully today.

Text and photographs trace the life of the fearless pioneer who became known as the Mother of Texas.