Nancy T. Ammerman, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Boston University and Author, Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Religion and Spirituality in Everyday Life, observes that "Graber Miller calls all Christians to discern their passions, to be followers of Christ in vocations that matter. With the charm of a master story-teller, the vision of a teacher, and the insight of a seasoned scholar, he ranges from Mennonite history to today's urban and professional Mennonite culture in a way that will inform and challenge lay readers and theologians alike." Sara Wenger Shenk, President, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, believes "This is a remarkable book--easy to read and yet profoundly theological, in touch with diverse perspectives and yet persuasively authoritative. I couldn't recommend it more highly." Jim Lewis, who was Executive Director, the Louisville Institute, and is Author, The Protestant Experience in Gary, Indiana: 1906-1975, points out that "Living Faith reminds us that the primary agenda of an Anabaptist vocation, whether or not it is lodged in one's remunerated work, is 'to work at bringing healing and reconciliation in God's good and groaning world.'"

When Jacob wrestled with God's messenger in Genesis, he did not let go until he received a blessing. So Jacob was renamed Israel, or "God Wrestles." A theme uniting this book's 16 stories plus responses is this reality of wrestling in search of blessing.

In July 1968, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) opened an office in Washington, D.C., for monitoring the actions of the federal government's various branches. Given American Mennonites' long history of noninvolvement in political affairs, this shift toward engagement was dramatic indeed. In this in-depth study, Keith Graber Miller shows how the church's distinctive traditions of pacifism, humility, and service have informed and shaped the nature of its activities in Washington. Graber Miller argues that Mennonites have both influenced the national policymaking debate and have themselves been influenced by their increasing exposure to it. Wise As Serpents, Innocent as Doves not only explores the twentieth-century transformations among American Mennonites but illuminates the larger issues of religious lobbying in the nation's capital. Graber Miller suggests that the Mennonites have helped redefine what it means to be a lobbyist. Because the Mennonites' numbers are too few to make them a politically significant force, he argues, their only credibility in Washington lies in an astute and accurate analysis of how the world is and in the integrity of their witness to the truth as they see it.