An Uplifting Portrait of John R. Lewis
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HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON BY JON MEACHAM
COLEMATT/FOTOSEARCH
Random House
BOOK COVER IMAGES COURTESY OF THE PUBLISHERS
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BRIEFS
By Julie Horne Traubert
“A believer in the injunction that one should love one’s neighbor as oneself, Lewis was arguably a saint in our time, risking limb and life to bear witness for the powerless in the face of the powerful.”
he Benedictine David Steindl-Rast writes, “How difficult it is to live in the creative tension of hope, the tension between not-yet and already!” If anyone were to be the embodiment of that creative tension, then it would certainly be John Robert Lewis, one of the United States’ great social justice leaders of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The life of Lewis, a full-fledged proponent of nonviolent, direct action and often called the “moral conscience of Congress,” is warmly and engagingly told in this new biography by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham. In Meacham’s wonderful prose we follow the story of “the Boy from Troy” (Alabama) from his early life growing up a sharecropper’s son and preaching to the chickens in his yard, through his journey as a young man who directly confronted the evils of American racism. Lewis understood the promise that Jefferson made to all Americans but recognized that America still had a long way to go to see those ideals fulfilled. Lewis and others like Martin Luther King Jr. knew that hope is rooted in God and is not necessarily about optimism. As Lewis would say in paying the price for bearing the physical scars of that struggle, “Our bodies became living witnesses for the cause of human dignity and freedom.” Lewis’ life clearly reflects that of Christ being crucified in the cause for civil rights and then resurrected as an elder to the halls of government. Along the way, he never changed; he was stalwart, defiant, and always forgiving until the end of his life. Lewis understood the physical and existential components of the tension of hope. In Meacham’s pen we have a well-told biography of someone who changed America for the better because he hoped for a better future, a future we now enjoy because of Lewis and other nonviolent practitioners. The story of Lewis, so steeped in religious faith, can inspire us to continue to work for the social and economic changes still needed in the United States to live up to our national creed and aspirations.
Reviewed by James A. Percoco, a nationally recognized history educator with over 35 years of teaching experience.
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CHRIST IN THE STORM BY POPE FRANCIS Ave Maria Press
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n March 27, 2020, Pope Francis gave an extraordinary blessing, Urbi et Orbi (“To the City and the World”), at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging the darkness of the time and the necessity for hope. Beautiful images and the moving homily by Pope Francis bring readers into the unity and comfort of that evening.
BLESS US, O LORD BY ROBERT M. HAMMA Ave Maria Press
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niting in prayer at mealtime is a common practice for many, but Robert Hamma aims to enrich this ritual with both traditional and newer prayers. He structures prayers around the Church calendar and includes special occasions such as birthdays, graduations, and even blessing Mondays. You’ll want to keep this book on your kitchen table.
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