“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time…’” (Habakkuk 2:2-3 NLT).

One does not attain the status of senior minister emeritus of The Riverside Church-in the City of New York—at ninety-four years old, it is one of the largest multicultural congregations in the U.S.—without having some choice experiences and wisdom to dispense. In Veracity & Verse: A Preacher’s Reflections & Poems on Faith & Truth, Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes Jr., through contemplations in prose and poetry, shares highlights of his journey from preacher’s son to becoming one of the most effective speaking-truth-to-power ministers of his time.

Graduating from Howard University, completing his Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Ministry at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School all helped prepare Forbes academically to fulfill his calling. It was the marked lived experiences, however, that firmly grounded him: growing up in the segregated South; meeting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and hearing him speak; shifting from a focus on medicine to ministry; being denied acceptance to Duke University’s Divinity School, an institution that was not interested in matriculating Black students; and finally being able to eat his first meal at the Woolworth’s counter after the successful sit-in movement. He became an activist professor at Union, the first African American to lead the congregation at Riverside Church in New York City, and the preacher who brought African American preaching styles to white pulpits, with enduring impacts.

In Veracity & Verse, Forbes explores themes on faith, family, community, racism, freedom, spirituality, love, truth, gratitude, leadership, values, nationhood, equality, resilience, hope. Poems such as “The Spirit Is the Key to Community,” “Imagine a World,” “We Shall Overcome, for Sure,” “A Conversation with Our Nation About Race,” and “All Americans Together (A Juneteenth Meditation),”—and the (untitled) narratives presented in tandem with them—chronicle a life lived with eyes, ears, and a heart wide open.

Forbes’s first offering, “My Family, Your Family,” sets the tone for what emerges as Veracity & Verse’s core theme—the vital importance of family/community:

When we all join hands in a family,
A beautiful strength is there
To build a home where everyone
Is thoughtful, kind, and fair…

The author then introduces readers to his own family, speaking of humble beginnings, core values, customs, and traditions intertwined with love, faith, hard work, gratitude and generosity. It was while he was still a child in such a nurturing household, though, that Forbes “became aware of race.” As he notes:

I have tried to recall the moment I discovered that some of us were Black and others were white… race was the context in which I was born and raised, and segregation was the way things were… our parents probably urged compliance for the sake of safety and survival… By the time I reached adolescence I was highly sensitive to racist behavior and thinking.

Yet the discrimination he faced throughout his life did not deter him from following his path. As he writes, “God’s love is so powerful that it can make the unbearable bearable, the impossible possible, and transform the evils of the world to help build the beloved community.”

After receiving divine insight that he had been called to address “the spiritual renewal of the nation,” Forbes looks more closely at the ever-widening implications of racism in America, noting, “The plague of racism in our nation will lead to our collective downfall unless we diagnose it, treat it, and learn to prevent it.” The poem “Who Do We Think We Are?” gets in the face of a nation destined to be hobbled by its own hubris:

Who do we think we are as a nation?
Too exceptional to falter or lose?
Even when we blow it—and we all
know it
We will find somebody else to accuse…
Lord…
Until by your grace, our nation is blessed,
The American dream will ache and groan.

What appeals most to this reader about Veracity & Verse is that it bears a ring of authenticity. And that is refreshing. This is one man sharing the truths of his profound experiences and insights in a straightforward, passionate, and unpretentious way. Another enticing quality about this work is the mix of the aesthetics and emotional impacts of poetry with the more direct offerings of prose. The narratives are presented as the contexts from which the poems emerge, creating a natural flow that keeps the reader engaged in the writer’s journey. Except for the opening section, each part of the book begins with a story followed by or interspersed with a poem or poems. The lack of chapter markers enhances the overall rhythm of the work.

Forbes informs and inspires. He has lived a history and had achievements that most of us will only ever read about. And at age ninety, he is still a force. As much as possible, he continues to do the work he’s been charged to do, while hoping for a new day. The messages in this book and his resolve should move us to not only admire his perseverance, faithfulness, and triumphs but also ask ourselves, among other things, where we stand in our quest for and commitment to truthfulness and to justice for all in face of the current realities within our nation. The future time is now.