The Dark Night of Resistance

This extraordinary book, written during the four months that Daniel Berrigan was resisting arrest and living underground, is an unexpected gift. Rather than being merely an account of a fugitive's life, this is a spiritual work of the highest order, the work of an unusual man brooding over injustice, war, and love and setting forth his vision of what a man can become.His starting point is St. John of the Cross, from whom the author draws the inspiration that informs his unorthodox commentary on The Dark Night of the Soul. Here, John is the guru, the master to whom the disciple comes for enlightenment, the one whose vision inspires the disciple as he searches for his own vision.As the commentary moves on, it becomes the instrument by which Father Berrigan extends his own moral commitment to explore and reaffirm his spiritual philosophy, his concern for the world, his intense desire to awaken and move society in a nonviolent way. The result is a magnificent outpouring of prose and poetry--intense, personal, witty; the exposition of the heart of a man.How are we to live our lives today? We are in the dark preliminary stages of a new humanity, together. Imagine! my brother in prison, myself on the run, our friends here and there (in prison, on the run), and in every city between. Thus, all of us are enabled, in an utterly new way, to probe and ponder new forms of community, the questions about the future, the usefulness and joy and hope that may arise from this.--from the first chapterDaniel Berrigan is a poet and prophet for these times.--Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazineDaniel Berrigan is the sort of priest who causes the lights of the Vatican to burn through the night.--NewsweekDaniel Berrigan is an internationally known voice for peace and disarmament. A Jesuit priest, award-winning poet, and the author of over fifty books, he has spoken for peace, justice, and nuclear disarmament for nearly fifty years. He spent several years in prison for his part in the 1968 Catonsville Nine antiwar action and later acted with the Plowshares Eight. Nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize, he lives and works in New York City.