William Lynch, SJ
Pastoral Minister
St. Therese Church, Mooresville, NC

I read recently The Meaning of the 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring our Future, written by James Martin. He is one of the world’s most widely respected authorities on technology’s impact on our lives. Homo sapiens are at a crucial turning point, Martin proclaims in his provocative and prophetic book. We all face a profound transition, unique in our history. We are traveling at breakneck speed into a time of extremes — extremes of wealth and poverty, extremes in technology, extremes in weaponry, extremes in population, extremes in globalism. Our survival rests on learning how to balance them all. If we succeed in finding ways to support massive gains in population combined with dizzying technological progress, we have a magnificent future ahead of us. If we fail, we may well be headed for a new Dark Age. The author well describes the environmental crisis and the social chaos in the human population. We inhabit a small, beautiful, isolated planet. During the Industrial Age, we abused, overused, and over-consumed the natural world. We in the West have inflicted so much destruction that our consumptive life style will never be reduplicated elsewhere. So it boggles the mind to contemplate what will happen in the enormous new consumer societies. We are on a non-sustainable course — a course that unless it is changed, could lead to huge catastrophes. At the same time, we are unlocking formidable capabilities that give reason to believe in a more hopeful future. This book is well worth reading.

I am reading Einstein, His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson. I learned of the book through The New York Times best sellers list. I have always been intrigued by Einstein’s great spirit and brilliant mind. His complex nature of a scientific genius coupled with humility, strength of character and endless awe of nature captivate me. As Isaacson writes, “He was that odd breed, a reverential rebel, and was guided by a faith, which he wore lightly and with a twinkle in his eye, in a God who would not play the dice by allowing things to happen by chance.” Prior to reading the book, I knew relatively little about Einstein’s life’s journey, and I find his experiences and choices interesting and thought provoking. Many quotes scattered throughout the book provide insight into his complexity. My favorite thus far was said to one of his daughters: “Use for yourself little,” he said, “but give others much.”

Ann Marie Jursca
Assistant Director
Faith and Justice Institute
Saint Joseph's University

Jazmine Gonzalez
Hopeworks N'Camden

The book I am reading is The Myth of Human Races, by Alain F. Corcos. My mentor, Rev. Tim Merrill, took me and a couple of my classmates to the public library in Philadelphia. We had to check out books that pertained to our project about race. The book is filled with facts from the very beginning. The author supports his theory with history. I agree with his idea that classification of the human race is an impossible task. My grandmother is Taino Indian. My grandfather is Spanish with a mixture of Bahamian. My other grandparents are mixed with different races as well, so if the government were to try to classify me, then what would I be? To many, I’m just Puerto Rican because of my looks. Scientists have tried and failed to divide humans into races. My assignment was to choose whether I wanted to study this topic from a historic view or a scientific view. This book has both. Corcos proves that we are all the same. There are still racial issues occurring every day in the world. Most of these cause people to hate each other. Corcos taught me that color is just that, color. We all bleed the same red and what makes us a little different or darker than someone else is the amount of melanin in our bodies. This book has made me feel like I just graduated from college moving on to be a doctor. There is so much you don’t know until you read.