The Common Good: Rising of a New Dawn will forever change how you see your neighbor. On this captivating spiritual journey through America, hear the stories of how ordinary people—people in the trenches devoted to the common good—are making an extraordinary difference in the lives of many. With passion, wit, and wisdom, Juanita Farrow discusses business, politics, and religion, and paints a compelling picture of how the common good is not only God’s desire for America but why it’s good for America. Juanita Farrow states, “We live in a great country, but far too often we allow our beliefs and egos to divide us in ways that become a form of paralysis that impacts the entire nation.” Explore how the people in our lives and the experiences of our journey begin to shape our decisions and our view of the world. The Common Good speaks to people of faith and nonbelievers, and challenges everyone to look within for authentic purpose. It looks at pressing issues for Americans but also the rising of a new dawn. Building the bridges to transcend differences will require a lot of heart. Creating a movement for the common good will be difficult, but even businesses, for instance, have found social entrepreneurship not only solves social problems around the world, but is good for the bottom line. The Common Good describes how living a more conscious life can heal a nation—one heart, one mind, one thought at a time. It is a message of hope and how to turn fear into love. Walk away feeling empowered and inspired to make a difference.

Juanita Farrow’s book on the common good presents a fresh and unique perspective on the complicated issues related to understanding the common good. One can be very pessimistic about pursuing the common good when in many ways, we have not really settled all of the issues that were fought over in the American Civil War (e.g., states’ rights and racial disparities). Also, thinking globally, it seems the issues battled over in the Crusades have never really been settled. With that as background, it makes one pessimistic about pursuing and achieving the common good.

That said, Farrow’s book is inspirational, positive, and easily adaptable to other approaches to tackling the issues surrounding the pursuit of the common good. Farrow’s approach is very much “faith-based.” However, most of the observations and principles developed in the book can be adapted to a focus on the political and economics approaches. Let me quote from the book’s Preface (page viii), sounding a bit like John Lennon’s song “Imagine?”: “Imagine if our political, and religious communities were all working for the ‘common good’ of the people. Imagine if the words from the Pledge of Allegiance … What if we really believed we are ONE Nation under God, uniting for ONE people, ONE purpose? Imagine if we were not separated by religion or denomination, nor torn by growing income and wealth disparities. Imagine if we had a government that actually worked for the people—not just for the good of the special interest groups. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, … We had the power all along; we just needed to believe it.” She goes on to write: “The good news is we have always been a nation of creativity and perseverance; the bad news is we will have to find our way out of the darkness to become, again, that beacon of light to all of humanity. It’s time to move forward. A unifying philosophy that we can all embrace as we seek traction is the common good.”

Farrow’s uses personal experiences and anecdotes from her life and her work experiences. She relies mainly on Judeo-Christian principles. She suggests focusing on the millennial generation to take the lead on the changes that are needed. In any case, this book is certainly timely, engaging, and quite readable. By Dr. David H. Finifter Professor of Economics (Emeritus) The College of William & Mary

The Common Good three words we never hear and the title of a book written by my good friend and colleague, Juanita Farrow. It was a real pleasure to turn the pages of this book that combined the quotes of Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and Ghandi and leads us to a place of self examination. I now use it daily as a meditation guide and a morning inspirational. G. Richard Jackson MPA, CSA, executive director of the Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging