In the last weeks, a number of readers have forwarded excerpts from Lee Iacocca’s recently published book, Where have all the leaders gone? Since I haven’t yet had the opportunity to read it, I will confine my remarks this week to a few observations.

Along with the above information, I heard an interesting report from a source I have forgotten, revealing that Americans’ purchase of books for the past year has risen a paltry .05%, with religious books leading the pack.

Imagine! With all the doubt about Iraq, the Immigration debacle, the loss of our manufacturing base, the crime in our streets and board rooms, Americans are becoming God-seekers.

On the heels of this encouraging fact, we might observe that we’re not in such great moral shape as our choice of books would suggest. Why? After some ruminating, I’ve concluded, it’s because we’re so fragmented, geographically, politically, economically. And we don’t have the leaders whom Iacocca would like to round up and set in place pronto to unite right-minded but hesitant people.

We’re social animals, and, while we might devour a book on loving our neighbors down the street and across the pond, we’d like a companion or two along the way to make the journey less hazardous, less lonely. If we want leaders, we need to show ourselves ready to step up to the plate, public or private, to support them, not leave them twisting in the wind of nebulous dreams.

What to do? How do we form little leaders to carry forward the vision of the big leaders? We need to harness the drive of those good people buying the good books on spirituality to strengthen our backbones and provide power in numbers.

Christ has told us that when we gather together in His name, He will be with us. How about gathering a group of four or five to pray and study in our homes? There are two books by Father Albert Nolan, O.P., well worth the time and effort involved in the experiment: Christ before Christianity and Jesus Today, A Spirituality of Radical Freedom.

Noted theologian, Elizabeth A. Johnson, shares her thoughts:

A beautiful book! (Jesus Today). What Albert Nolan did 30 years ago with Jesus’ passion for justice (Jesus Before Christianity), he does again with Jesus’ spirituality. Writing simply and clear as a bell, he lays out the heart of the gospel in such a way that it lights up the world and ignites the heart of the reader. Seekers as well as sturdy believers will find here deep wisdom, the fruit of the author’s own mystic, prophetic life. A terrific sequel that will nourish spiritual life for years to come.

Since being a member of two groups using Nolan’s work, I can highly endorse without reservation Johnson’s comments.

Nolan not only writes well, he walks the walk much too difficult for the majority of us. In the Foreward, Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. writes:

When I first met Albert, more than twenty years ago, I was a young prior of Blackfriars, Oxford. I confess that I was a little nervous about the visit by this famous theologian. Surely he would find us all rather lax in our commitment to the poor, rather inadequate, and mediocre! But it was not thus. We discovered a brother who was truthful, utterly himself, and yet with whom we could feel at ease, visiting pubs, laughing, and enjoying his company. This is the Albert whom one can still encounter in this book, fresh, hopeful, strong, and immensely understanding of us all as we limp, or sometimes run, toward the Kingdom.

And Nolan writes in the Introduction of Christ Before Christianity:

I am concerned about people, the daily sufferings of so many millions of people, and the prospect of much greater suffering in the near future. My purpose is to find out what can be done about it.

Albert Nolan, a missionary to the poor in South Africa for the last
thirty years, supporting the Church’s struggle against apartheid, was recently elected the head of the entire Dominican order. He declined the honor in order to remain with the poor, walking the talk in his books.

Both books by Nolan can be ordered through Orbis Books, a branch of the Maryknoll Order:

Orbis Books Dept. NCR5O7
Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302

Call toll-free: 1-800-258-5838: 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST
Ask for Dept. NCR507

Jesus Before Christianity: $15.00
Jesus Today: $16.00

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