Thomas Merton’s Letter to a Young Activist – Jim and Nancy Forest

alone is not enough, but without it, nothing else is of value. The first task is to get the self immunized against the most radical results of the threat of violence. When this is accomplished, relaxation takes the place of

It is, once more, a measure of how far the Western church has drifted from those moorings that it has been possible for Christians in our own day to think of bringing “justice and peace” into the world by the normal, disastrous means of bombs and bullets.

we are called upon to act without seeking the fruits of our actions. Let the fruits come, as come they often will. But don’t seek them. If you seek them, your compassion may be jeopardized.

True peace work requires a spiritual dimension—the practice of peace.