Seizing the Nonviolent Moments
Reflections on the Spirituality of Nonviolence Through the Lens of Scripture
by Nancy Small
Foreword by Mary Lou Kownacki
Imprint: Cascade Books
Nancy Small is a hospice chaplain, spiritual director, writer, retreat leader, and a seeker of peace. She is known for her work in the areas of spirituality, scripture, pastoral ministry, prayer, and ritual. Her peace work is deeply rooted in the spirituality of nonviolence and focuses on the areas of reconciliation and right relationship. She is a former national coordinator and a current Ambassador of Peace with Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement. She served as a regional Pax Christi coordinator with Pax Christi Metro New York and was a member of the Pax Christi USA national council prior to being named national coordinator. Nancy is an Oblate of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie who holds a Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a spiritual direction certificate from the Center for Spirituality and Justice. Her commitment to social justice began during her years as a Jesuit Volunteer, when she witnessed poverty first-hand as a pastoral minister and as a legal advocate for people in need. She lives in Worcester, MA with her husband, Carl.
"At a time when church teaching has once again embraced Jesus's radical rejection of all violence, most Christians still struggle to follow Him. With her deep insights from Scripture, prayerful reflections and challenging questions, Nancy Small enables us to 'seize the nonviolent moments' of everyday life as a path to profound conversion. On this path, readers of the book will now sing with new awareness and new hope, 'Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.'"
--Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, retired auxiliary bishop of the Detroit archdiocese, Detroit, Michigan
"Even those who have already committed to nonviolent living will find in these pages gems of wisdom born out of long practice confronting the violences of our world. Nonviolence, according to Nancy Small, is the 'act of tilling our inner seedbed over and over and tending to our spiritual soil so that new growth will sprout.' The violent world in which we live desperately needs this new growth. This book should be required reading for all Christians."
--Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International, Washington, D.C.
"This is an exquisite invitation to taste nonviolence for the first time or to reflect on the complexity and grace of nonviolence for the active practitioner. Small's exegesis of the Scriptures is brilliant and compelling, asking the reader to return to the 'breadbasket of our soul' to see what resources each brings to a world blessed, broken, and hungry for peace."
--Mary Carter Waren, St. Thomas University, Miami, Florida