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From the Preface
to Anyway.
 For years, I have encouraged Kent to devote more time to writing and speaking. Now, in this book, he shares his thoughts and experiences about something he has always been good at – finding personal meaning. His book is simple, eloquent, and profound. It will touch you in surprising ways. Most important, it will help you live a life that is rich in personal meaning. And that, as Kent explains, is the kind of life most worth living.
- Spencer Johnson, M.D., author of Who Moved My Cheese? from his Foreword to Kent M. Keith's book, Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments
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Dr. Keith is the author of the bestselling book, Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments
(G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2002). The book is an introduction to the Paradoxical
Commandments, including some of the events in Dr. Keith's early life
that shaped the creation of the commandments in the sixties. The book has
been translated and published in Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French,
Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovakian, Spanish,
Swedish, and Thai.
His narration of Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments won a national "Audie"
award from the Audio Publishers Association as the best audiobook of 2003
in the personal development/motivational category.
His second book on the Paradoxical Commandments is Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning
and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World (Inner Ocean Publishing, 2003). The handbook
is about how to live the Paradoxical Commandments. It includes stories from
people from all walks of life who are living the commandments, as well as
questions for personal reflection or group discussion. It concludes with a
Paradoxical Commandments Action Checklist.
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Praise for Have
Faith Anyway.
In this accessible discussion Keith exhibits his capacity to connect Scripture to contemporary issues of faith and life. He takes up the book of Habakkuk—no easy read—and shows the ways the book invites and empowers to dogged, resolved faith. A special asset of the book is a helpful study guide that suggests hands-on engagement with the text and with life.
Walter Brueggemann
Columbia Theological Seminary
Author, The Prophetic Imagination
I have always been disappointed that the prophetic books are used, quoted, and even understood so little by Christian churches. Have Faith Anyway brilliantly turns the corner on that sad pattern. Kent Keith makes one Jewish prophet both alive and relevant in his historic setting—and even more in ours!
Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M.
Center for Action and Contemplation
Author, Everything Belongs
Kent M. Keith has provided us with a significant and living word for today from the ancient vision of Habakkuk. He will draw you into the powerful faith of the prophet and help you to make it your own.
James K. Bruckner, Ph.D
Professor of Old Testament
North Park University
Author, Exodus and Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Utilizing the tools of Israel’s prophetic tradition, Kent Keith captures and expresses, in terms of twenty-first century concerns, Habakkuk’s spiritual message about faith in God’s unfailing presence in our lives. Faith—trust in God—is best described as the ability to live a joyful, hopeful, and committed life even in the midst of the world’s negativity.
Rev. Scott M. Lewis, S. J.
Associate Professor, New Testament
Regis College, Toronto School of Theology
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His third book on the Paradoxical Commandments is Jesus Did It Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2005). The book illustrates the Paradoxical Commandments with stories and verses from the Old and New Testaments, the teachings of Jesus, and personal anecdotes. The book focuses on the practical, daily challenges of living the Christian faith. It includes a study guide with questions for each chapter, designed for discussion groups and Sunday School classes.
His fourth book that relates to the Paradoxical Commandments is Have Faith Anyway: The Vision of Habakkuk for Our Times (Jossey-Bass, 2008). The book explores Dr. Keith's new 11th Paradoxical Commandment: The world is full of violence, injustice, starvation, disease, and environmental destruction. Have faith anyway. The book tells the story of the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, whose vision of a conversation with God led him to an inspiring affirmation of faith even in the face of devastation and death. The book concludes with Keith's own vision of a conversation between a Christian and God today. The book includes a Readers Guide for Reflection and Study.
Dr. Keith is also the author of The Case for Servant Leadership (Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 2008). The book cites the universal importance of service, defines servant leadership, compares the power model of leadership with the service model, describes some key practices of servant-leaders, and explores the meaningful lives of servant-leaders. It includes questions for reflection and discussion.
Dr. Keith's first book was a student leadership manual, The Silent Revolution:
Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council, published by Harvard Student Agencies
in 1968, when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard. Keith encouraged students
to work together, through the system, to achieve positive, lasting change.
This is the booklet for which he wrote the Paradoxical Commandments. A revised
edition was published by the National Association of Secondary School Principals
(NASSP) in 1972. Approximately 30,000 copies of the two editions of the booklet
were sold or distributed throughout the United States between 1968 and the
mid-seventies.
In 1969, Dr. Keith wrote another student leadership booklet, The Silent Majority:
The Problem of Apathy and the Student Council, which was used in workshops
and then published by NASSP in 1972. This was a companion to The Silent Revolution.
It urged students to reach out to their fellow students and link up with their
interests and needs, so that the student council can fulfill its noblest purpose:
people helping people.
New editions of The Silent Revolution and The Silent Majority were recently
published by Terrace Press.
In 2003, Dr. Keith created "The Universal Moral Code" while writing about morality and ethics. The code incorporates basic, universal ideas about how we should live and how we should treat each other. Following these basic principles gives people the meaning that comes from living their values and doing what's right.
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