Jim Forest has spent a lifetime in the cause of peace and reconciliation. In this memoir he traces his story through his intimate encounters with some of the great peacemakers of our time, including Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, Henri Nouwen, and Thich Nhat Hanh. The son of ardent Communists, his remarkable journey led to his enlistment in the Navy, and then his discharge as a conscientious objector following his conversion to Catholicism.

Simone Campbell, SSS, is the executive director of NETWORK, a nonprofit Catholic social justice lobby in Washington, DC. In 2012, Sister Simone organized NETWORK’s Nuns on the Bus campaign that has attracted an avalanche of media attention in the United States and other parts of the world. Sister Simone, a long-standing member of the Sisters of Social Service became an attorney in 1978 and founded a community law center that served the legal needs of the working poor.

This book, written prior to the pandemic, reflects on the role of “earthquakes”—literal and metaphorical: times like the present when history trembles beneath our feet. Such times may overturn empires, structures of power, and the stability of our personal lives. Yet, as Rabbi Waskow writes in a special preface, “this specific ‘earthquake’ among all the earthquakes in our lives . . . is ever-present, even if invisible and inaudible.”

Whether in a local community, an educational institution, or a global organization, the key to addressing the current crisis in American public life is genuine moral leadership. Moral leadership is anchored in intellectual and ethical integrity, a vision of and commitment to the public good, and personal investment in transformative community.

Though Pope Francis remains one of the most popular figures in the world, his pontificate has stirred up powerful opposition. Some reject his openness to divorced and remarried Catholics and the priority he places on mercy above rigid doctrine. Others reject his outspoken defense of migrants, his critiques of capitalism, and calls to protect the environment.