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"A Seamless Garment of Life" Either love him or loathe him because you'd have to work hard to be lukewarm about Jim Wallis and his new book, "God's Politics." As his subtitle suggests ("Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It"), Wallis calls for an integrative approach to politics and religion. His point of integration is well captured in the words of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin's statement about, "a seamless garment of life" in which all issues that infringe on human life are important. As Wallis himself says in an open letter to Chuck Colson: "What I'm saying around the country is that there is a new option for American politics that follows from the prophetic religious tradition. It is `traditional' or `conservative' on issues of family values, sexual integrity, and personal responsibility while being very `progressive,' `populist,' or even `radical' on issues such as poverty and racial justice" (www.sojo.net). When you read "God's Politics," be prepared to think, to be upset, to disagree, to ponder, to be stretched. When you tell your friends about it, be prepared to be called a "liberal turncoat" by your conservative friends, or a "fundamentalist nutcase" by your liberal friends. Though I don't come to all the same conclusion as Wallis, I have thought several times, "I wish I had written this book," and "I've always thought that there must be a way to be a Christian, love all of life, and care for the unborn as well as the disadvantaged born." Wallis has the courage, the mind, and the communication skills to weave together a tapestry that just might lead to a new American melting pot (to mix my metaphors). Reviewer: Dr. Bob Kellemen, author of "Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction" and "Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction."