As a peace activist, biographer, and lover of silence, author Jim Forest's deep humility and sincere way of being reveal to us much about listening, truly seeing, and deeply caring for our fellow human beings.

"The day starts in silence... and silence normally — not always, but normally — opens the door to prayer, so prayer and silence are very connected; sometimes the prayer is silence." — Jim Forest

Jim Forest, speaking at the Voices of Peace conference.

Describing himself as "an undergraduate student at Dorothy Day university" — and noting that he doesn't think he will ever graduate! — Jim Forest tells the story of a truly remarkable life — the child of American communists growing up in the 1950s, he tried his hand in the U.S. Navy but soon dropped out from the service to immerse himself in the world of the Catholic Worker Movement and anti-war activism, that led him to (among other things) co-founding the Catholic Peace Fellowship after the "Spiritual Roots of Peacemaking" retreat convened by Thomas Merton in 1964.

"Like arrows, words point, but they are not the target." — Jim Forest

Cassidy Hall recorded this conversation while participating in the "Voices of Peace" conference in Toronto in April 2018. Their gentle and intimate conversation explores art, philosophy, politics, the Eucharist, and spirituality — and how silence dances through all these dimensions of life.

Cassidy Hall and Jim Forest

With stories about legendary figures like peace activist A. J. Muste, Henri Nouwen, Thich Nhat Hanh, and (of course) Thomas Merton, this conversation provides deep and rich insight into a man who not only knew some of the great peace activists of the twentieth century, but who was indeed one of their number.

"Without silence, we don't hear anything." — Jim Forest

Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode:

Jim Forest, The Ladder of the Beatitudes

Jim Forest, Praying with Icons

Jim Forest, Road to Emmaus

Jim Forest, Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton

Jim Forest, All is Grace:  A Biography of Dorothy Day

Jim Forest, At Play in the Lion's Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan

Thomas Merton, Essential Writings

Dorothy Day, Loaves and Fishes

Daniel Berrigan, Essential Writings

Thich Nhat Hanh, Essential Writings

Cassidy Hall and Patrick Shen, Notes on Silence

Patrick Shen (dir.), In Pursuit of Silence

Jim Forest, The Root of War is Fear: Thomas Merton's Advice to Peacemakers

A. J. Muste, Nonviolence in an Aggressive World

Thomas Merton, The Literary Essays (Includes "The Message to Poets")

Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness

Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out

Jim Forest, Saint George and the Dragon

Jim Forest, Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins

Jim Forest, Silent as a Stone: Mother Maria of Paris and the Trash Can Rescue

Visit Jim and Nancy Forest's website www.jimandnancyforest.com.

Episode 20: Silence and Peacemaking: A Conversation with Jim Forest

Hosted by: Cassidy Hall

Introduced by: Kevin Johnson

Guest: Jim Forest

Date Recorded: April 27, 2018

It's cold in Toronto, even in the spring!