In the centenary year of Merton's birth, longtime peace activist and author John Dear reflects on Merton's profound contributions to the practice and spirituality of peacemaking. Beginning in the early 1960s the famous Trappist monk broke new ground through his prophetic writings on nuclear weapons, war, and racism. For Merton, these issues were not only moral challenges: they reflected a deeper spiritual crisis afflicting the world. Here, John Dear invites us to take up Merton's journey and become mature spiritual seekers, breaking beyond the norms of religious obligation into a universal compassion so that we, too, might become peacemakers, the beloved children of the God of peace. (Publisher).