“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
These words, from Isaiah in the Hebrew Scriptures, increasingly ring hollow in our American society. But on occasion, they can come to life and confront us.
May 9, 2016, was such an occasion for me. This would have been Daniel Berrigan’s 95th birthday. Berrigan was perhaps America’s most famous living peace activist until his death a few weeks ago on April 30 in New York. Berrigan was a Jesuit priest who committed many acts of civil disobedience during his nonviolent protests — and served substantial time in prison for doing so.