"Run, Forest, Run"--A Tribute to my friend Jim Forest (1941-2022)

 
 

A great and humble man of God died last week in the Netherlands of natural causes at the honorable age of 80.  Unable to walk without his walker and with failing health in his final months, I imagine Jim now in heaven running and leaping and praising God.  I think of him as Forrest Gump of the Peace Movement in America--always there, behind the scenes, with more famous people up front, yet present everywhere, and at just the right time.

Friend of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Dan Berrigan, and Thich Nhat Hanh--with whom he con-spired (lit. breathed with) to protest injustice in the 1960's.  A noted journalist and author of a dozen books on spirituality and justice.  An ordained Reader in the Russian Orthodox Church.  Conscientious Objector to all wars. He was a peace activist who spent over a year in Federal prison for his non-violent direct action against wars and nuclear armament. While in prison, he not only read the works of Tolstoy, but many patristic writers and lives of saints. He carried on a significant correspondence with fellow peacemakers Henri Nouwen, John Dear, and Thomas Merton (One of Merton's letters from 1967 to Jim--"Letter to a Young Activist"-- is worth reading today:  

He traveled with Thich Nhat Han during his first peacemaking trip across America, and helped introduce Nhat Han to Martin Luther King, Jr.--explaining why many regard him as a bodhisattva (any person who is on the path towards Buddhahood).  

Jim wrote among the best biographies of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Daniel Berrigan, and a book on lessons learned from Thich Nhat Han. After Pope Francis read Jim's book, All is Grace-- on Dorothy Day, he referenced her life and witness in his remarks to the American joint session of Congress in 2015. 

On a personal note: I will miss him, not only because I have valued his books and teachings over the past 40 years, and hosted him a number of times at Drew University and Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association during his US speaking engagements, but because he was a friend to me at a critical moment of my life when I did not believe in myself. Turning 50, having a delayed midlife crisis of sorts, Jim reached out to me in person and in letters, and was a life-line.  When a stranger becomes a friend, and comes through for you at just the right time (kairos speaking), you don't forget such loving kindness or neglect to pay tribute. 

I visited Jim and his wife Nancy twice at their home in the Netherlands, and we've had good walks and  bright moments of sweet fellowship around our common interest in Russian icons and liturgy, friendship with Henri Nouwen, and the relationship of contemplative spirituality and peace activism.  

I've included in this tribute some beautiful lines from a few of Jim's close friends and his son, Ben.  But before I share these great quotes, I want to say to Jim in the spirit of Forrest Gump: 'RUN, FOREST, RUN!"

 

An Ancient Prayer of Commendation 

 

Depart O Christian Soul 

out of this world.

Run, Run, Run

into the Arms of the One 

who made you and calls us His own in the Paradise of God.