Paul R Dekar

'Merton still matters', writes Paul R. Dekar about Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. Calling people to act justly, love kindness and walk humbly, Merton used his contemplative practice to see beyond what disrupts and divides us from one another to find the truth of our common humanity - unity in our creation in the image of God. In Thomas Merton and the New World, Dekar focuses primarily on two issues of concern to our current world. First, he studies Merton's warnings of the abuse that stems from unmindful and irresponsible use of technology, and its ecological devastation. Second, he examines Merton's thinking on racial injustice in the mid-1960s through his correspondence with his allies and contemporaries - James Baldwin, for example. Using Micah 6:8 to arrange Merton's focus on justice, lovingkindness, and humility, with input from Merton's dialogue with Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rachel Carson and others, Dekar demonstrates just how prophetic and transferable Merton's teachings remain.

Christians have been caught between "a rock and a hard place" for too long. On the one hand, the faith of our mothers and fathers calls for evangelism-we are to go out into the world to preach and teach that the Light has come. On the other hand, much of the cultural annihilism of the 19th and 20th centuries has masqueraded as evangelism. Is it any wonder that we are squeamish about the word? Paul Dekar's new book Holy Boldness, is a welcome antidote to our learned aversions to evangelism. The book is a scholarly but accessible and meditative study of evangelistic practices. Dekar leads us from an era of evangelism as triumphalism and ethnocentrism, toward evangelism as faithful spiritual practices, enacted with the humility and life commitment exemplified by Jesus Christ and the early church. This is a remarkable book that illuminates the path toward our fulfillment of "God's transforming work."Barbara A. Holmes J.D., Ph.D.Associate Professor of Ethics and African American Religious StudiesMemphis Theological SeminaryHaving known Paul Dekar as professor, peacemaker, social activist, and visionary, I can attest to the way in which this book puts into print what Paul has first put into action. Holy Boldness is a book about true evangelical faith. Drawing on biblical teaching, spiritual guides, and his own considerable experience, Paul shows how humility, loving-kindness, just living, and the rhythm of the liturgical year are integral to evangelism and the mission of the Church. This book will help to transform personal devotion into public witness that cares for the poor, liberates the oppressed, and challenges the powers as it celebrates the good news of Jesus Christ.Barry D. MorrisonAssociate Professor of Homiletics and WorshipAcadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, CanadaPaul R. Dekar is Professor of Evangelism and Missions at Memphis Theological Seminary. A graduate of the University of California (Berkeley), Colgate Rochester Divinity School and the University of Chicago, he has also taught at Central Michigan University, McMaster University, Acadia University, and Whitley College of the University of Melbourne.

Journeying with Hope into a New Year: Reflections for Advent and Christmas originated in 1982 when our family lived at Tantur, an ecumenical institute between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. My wife Nancy and I sent family and friends a letter highlighting our experience of Christmastide in the Holy Land. Inspired by writing this message from afar, we continue each year to write a letter with family news, a moving quote from a hymn or literary work, and spiritual reflections. These provide the basis for thirty-one meditations to be read daily through the month of December. Each includes a biblical text, a brief meditation, and a prayer. These may enable readers to experience more than the commercialism of the season and be led to magnify Jesus, the One who is at the heart of why we celebrate Christmas or write New Years' Resolutions. A line in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery summarizes a crucial idea informing this collection: And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Thomas Merton: God's Messenger on the Road towards a New World highlights the contribution of the best-selling North American writer between the Second World War and 1968. The Cistercian monk called people to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly. By his critique of technology, a major impediment for people to follow Jesus; by his writing on contemplative prayer; by his interfaith outreach; and through his witness against racism, war, and degradation of nature, Merton still matters. This book uses Micah 6:8 to organize Merton's focus on justice, lovingkindness, and humility, as well as his dialogue with Rachel Carson, Ernesto Cardinal, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thich Nhat Hahn, and others.

Thomas Merton: God's Messenger on the Road towards a New World highlights the contribution of the best-selling North American writer between the Second World War and 1968. The Cistercian monk called people to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly. By his critique of technology, a major impediment for people to follow Jesus; by his writing on contemplative prayer; by his interfaith outreach; and through his witness against racism, war, and degradation of nature, Merton still matters. This book uses Micah 6:8 to organize Merton's focus on justice, lovingkindness, and humility, as well as his dialogue with Rachel Carson, Ernesto Cardinal, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thich Nhat Hahn, and others.