Friends,

Some things can only be accomplished through persistence. Others seem to fall into place with such ease that you're left a little perplexed- "Wait, it can't be that easy, can it?" But the truth behind the easy ones is that they are usually the result of persistence that goes unnoticed or overlooked. Occasionally a fortunate person benefits from all that work by being in the right place at the right time.

I was that fortunate person when I called up John Stoner earlier this year to talk about creating a special issue of PeaceSigns focused on tax resistance. I had been thinking of trying to pull together such an issue for a while, but wondered how to go about it. I knew a bit of John's work with 1040 For Peace <http://1040forpeace.org/> and thought he'd be a good first place to start. My hope was perhaps he would contribute an article and point me in the direction of some other contributors.

But John's willingness to listen and help went beyond that. Our conversation ended with John agreeing to be Guest Editor for this issue. He and I talked about what kind of pieces would be good for this project, then John made it happen. He found talented, willing folks to contribute. He collected the material, pictures, bios, the whole works. John's years of experience, knowledge and relationships-his persistence- made this bringing this special issue of PeaceSigns to fruition easy for me.

I'm really excited about what came together. Whether this is your first time thinking about tax resistance or if you've been involved for a while, I believe you'll find inspiration and edification here. I'm grateful to John and all the contributors for the work they put into this issue of PeaceSigns.

I'm also grateful for the persistence they, and many others, bring to the issue of tax resistance. It's not the most popular, or most comfortable, topic. It touches on money, allegiance, the place of civil disobedience in the life of a follower of Jesus, religious freedom, among other things. Not your typical water cooler talk. But its importance can't be ignored. And when progress is made, when change comes about, if it seems as if it happened easily, we'll know it was due to the persistence of men, women and communities who have been thinking, working and praying for many years, often overlooked or unnoticed.

1040 For Peace is eager to hear from others who are working on or want to learn more about war tax resistance. Contact them through their website <http://1040forpeace.org/>

Also, we'd love to hear from you about this and every issue of PeaceSigns. Here's our easy online form for your feedback. <http://peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?page=r>


Best,
Jason

P.S. We will still be putting out our regular issue of PeaceSigns for April. Look for it in your inbox later this month!