A question of commitment

Commitment is a fashionable word nowadays - but what does it mean, and is it even necessarily and always a good thing?

In this Comment, Marigold Best and Pamela Hussey argue that our commitment must be to what is life-giving and life-enhancing. Drawing on inspirational examples, from Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador to the 'unhistoric acts' of ordinary people around the world, they show that a commitment to life means a commitment to change … and change can sometimes cost lives. This thought-provoking Comment challenges people to live out this commitment in their own lives - 'Everybody is called', they write, to help change things for the better, and make another world possible.

Marigold Best and Pamela Hussey are the authors of A culture of peace: Women, faith and reconciliation (2005), Women making a difference (2001) and Life out of death: The feminine spirit in El Salvador (1996). Marigold Best is a former Latin America Programme Coordinator for Quaker Peace & Service. Pamela Hussey has worked with CIIR (now Progressio) since 1981.