Reflection on the First Week of Lent

Ash Wednesday was just over a week ago and I still haven’t settled into my Lenten routine. I read the two devotionals I have at some point during the day, every day, but I haven’t found the perfect time and space for prayerful reading. I want it; I just can’t seem to settle into it. By the time I do, Lent will be over and I’ll have a case of regrets and guilty feelings.

I didn’t give up anything either. I couldn’t come up with anything that felt right. Nothing felt … well, actually everything I considered felt performative and had no deep meaning. What I’ve been doing so far this last week, is thinking more deeply about what I’m choosing to do with my time and choosing to eat and choosing to spend money on. I’m trying to make that part of my contemplations, but I feel as though I’m falling short.

My March is full of study and action and days of reflection and retreat, but even that is missing an emotional component. At least, that’s how it feels to me. Sleep walking through the steps but not genuinely getting anywhere. I even just added another retreat evening to my schedule, but it’s facilitated by two of my favorite religious women and that alone is worth the time spent.

Writing classes are going well – the first class of each are both great groups. I’m very excited for these six weeks. (Surreptitiously waves at any of them reading this right now.)

I have calendars and checklists and fancy colored markers but none of it is giving me any of the impressions they’re supposed to do.

Although Wednesday’s soup delivery is a good time to sit in quiet and peace, smell the soup, taste the bread, and pray on what got that soup to my door. Maybe I can draw a soup prayer. Draw a soup prayer. That’s something different, I think.

Goal for the week to include on my Apostolic Action – look back at my Heart and Soul Quest Letter to myself from November and the green sheet/handout that Sister gave us and use that to try to get into the Lenten frame of mind and after that I can check back next week. It’ll be a date: Tuesday. That comes after grouping on Monday and after planning this week’s lessons and right before I arrange April’s calendar for this site.

BBT*

*Be back Tuesday

Book Rec – The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton

Secretary Clinton and Dr. Clinton are the perfect choices to co-author a book on women’s courage and resilience with over 100 examples of other courageous and resilient women throughout their lives. Each profile is given respect and admiration and both Clintons strive to express how these women influenced and affected their lives. It is such an important book for young girls to see and read about those who have come before and led the way to our present. One day, some of us will be in a similar book recounting how we changed the world for the better.

I have a daughter who I would describe as courageous and resilient. She’s as kind and generous as she is self-absorbed (as all teenagers are wont to do), but while being kind, she is also someone who stands up for herself, and will not hesitate to give you her opinion. She is the best of me. I hope to be her when I grow up.

The Book of Gutsy Women can be found for purchase in any bookstore, online retailer, and as an e-book as well as borrowing it from the library. However you can get the book, you should read it. I read about five profiles a day, sometimes more.

It’s a great way to start off Women’s History Month.

Black History in Film

I thought this was the perfect way to close out 2023’s Black History Month (although I have a few more posts that will appear throughout March – black history month is every month).

Slate article by Aisha Harris and Dan Kois: The New Black Film Canon

Their list begins in 1920 and goes through to 2022. They also include a list of the voters who helped create this list of the seventy-five greatest movies by Black directors. They also share where these great films can be viewed on streaming channels.

I wish I’d seen this during winter break!

Election Connection – Abortion Access

It’s important to remember that one of the things left out of the abortion access discussion is that it is a freedom of religion issue. Banning abortion violates the tenets of some religions. It is also important to remind people that despite declarations of the opposite, this is not a Christian nation. It is not founded as a Christian nation, and many of us need to be reminded of that. More often it seems.

In fact, in the Treaty of Tripoli, signed in 1796 and ratified by the United States Senate in 1797, UNANIMOUSLY and without debate under the Presidency of John Adams stated that explicitly:

“…the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
Article 11, Treaty of Tripoli, rat. 1797

The below article was posted in USA Today on February 13, 2023. It is written by Christine Fernando and can be read here:

‘It’s time for us to be Bold’: Why Six Religious Leaders are Fighting to Expand Abortion Access

The six leaders highlighted in the article are:

Rev. Cindy Bumb of United Church of Christ
Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation
Jamie L. Manson, president of Catholics for Choice
Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women
Aliza Kazmi, co-executive director at HEART
Katey Zeh, Baptist minister and CEO of Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Black American Heroes of History

Follow the link to read about 31 Black American Heroes of History**

In this link, you will find:

Shirley Chisholm
Bayard Rustin
Claudette Colvin
Annie Lee Cooper
Dorothy Height
Jesse Owens
Bessie Coleman
Robert Sengstacke Abbott
Ethel Waters
Gwendolyn Brooks
Alice Coachman
Gordon Parks
Jane Bolin
Maria P. Williams
Marsha P. Johnson
Minnie Riperton
Ruby Bridges
Mae Jemison
Marian Anderson
Rose Marie McCoy

** Please note: The article is titled 31 Black American Heroes of History. However, when I read the article they only list 20.

Mental Health Monday – John Fetterman Edition

It’s extremely difficult to ask for help. No matter how big or small the problem, for many of us our reaction is often, “I’m good, I can do it, It’s fine.” Is it really? Whether we like to admit it or not, this can be more difficult for men, especially a man who is considered the head of his family, who just went through a health crisis, who is adjusting to unexpected changes in diet and lifestyle, who is being ridiculed for seeking help for a serious medical issue, whose family is mocked for nothing more than being his family, who went through a tough political race, and began a new job mere weeks ago.

It’s a lot.

It can be a lot without all of that going on.

For myself, I ignored a lot of my anxiety and depression. It didn’t occur to me that there was a problem. When you feel that something is off and search for help (today through Google), the wrong questions are asked. Do you skip out on work? Do you sleep a lot? Do you want to harm yourself? If your answers are no, you’re fine.

But you’re not.

I’m talking about myself, and not suggesting any of this is true for Senator Fetterman. Please don’t use this as an implication to some secret knowledge or diagnosis of the Senator. It’s not.

A Statement on President Carter’s Health

I came home from my day and tapped into my social media to find this statement from The Carter Center. I knew this day would come, and everytime I saw Jimmy Carter’s name in the news I would hold my breath until the all clear. I had considered (pre-covid) to try to attend one of his Sunday School classes/lectures that he holds at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. Cars line up at midnight waiting for his teaching, which he’d been doing for over forty years, only stopping as recently as 2020. I was not able to make it down to Georgia, things getting especially complicated after the bulk of the pandemic.

I have always thought of writing to him, but I never got up the courage. What could I say? Hey, Mr. President, I admire you. You inspire me. You’re a great man and humanitarian and a wonderful example of Christian love. I suppose I could have done just that.

I will tell you that I hold him up to the highest example of dedication, public service, and as a servant leader.

All of his books are a delight, but I would recommend Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President. I read it daily for one year, and it was a wonderful, calm, spiritual way to start each morning of that year.

I am glad that his family is with him at this bittersweet time, especially his wife of 76 years, Rosalynn, and pray his homegoing is tranquil and he and his family are at peace.

^{Official Photo of President Jimmy Carter. Library of Congress. Public Domain.}

^{I was a kid when Jimmy Carter was elected President, and my Dad got all of us kids this Jimmy Carter Peanut transistor radio. He used to have a top hat, like the Planters Peanut. I still have it and I treasure it. I guess it falls into “crazy political paraphernalia”. (c) 2023}

Read Banned Books

I’ve spent a couple of days looking at Florida’s list of banned books, and it is disproportionately authors of color. There are many with authors and references to LGBT+ issues and information, but diversity seems to be the “problem” for Florida’s governor, from banning books about Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente to calling the AP African-American course “contrary to Florida law” and states that it “significantly lacks educational value.”

There is a list of 176 books from one county alone. I’ve chosen a few to highlight the ridiculousness of this ban. I will say that some of the books on the list are not for all ages, but almost no book is. That is where parenting comes into play. I help my own kids choose books, and when I have a question (which I have had in the past) I speak to the teacher, and we sort it out. I try not to censor my kids, but I do if I need to base on age-appropriateness.

I will also say, in all fairness, that many of the books on the list will be returned to the school libraries after they are examined and approved. I wonder what is the point of having a professional educator and librarian who spend years becoming experts in their field only to have a parent, who has a bias against certain kinds of books make the decision for all the parents in the school system. It makes no sense. And yes, I will stand by my characterization of a biased parent. Look at some of these books (these are in no particular order, and you may google them for descriptions, but some are obvious).

Wilma’s Way Home: The Life of Wilma Mankiller by Doreen Rappaport and Linda Kukuk
Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac
Time to Pray by Maha Addasi, Ned Gannon, and Nuha Albitar [If this book was about Christian prayer, do you think it would have been questioned?]
Thank You, Jackie Robinson by Barbara Cohen & Richard Cuffari
My Mother’s Sari by Sandhya Raot and Nina Sabnami
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968 by Alice Faye Duncan and R. Gregory Christie
The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie de Paola
Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, and Ted Rand [These are the same authors of Here Are My Hands, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, preschool aged books that I used when I taught early-childhood.]
Dim Sum for Everyone by Grace Lin [What could this book be about?]
Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers and Julie Maren [In 2011, she appeared on a US postage stamp]
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Chief Seattle and Susan Jeffers [This is a book I used in early childhood programs often.]
Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII by Marissa Moss and Yuko Marissa Shimizu
Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West by Lillian Schlissel

The #1 banned book is George Orwell’s 1984. Also banned are The Dictionary, The Bible, and Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl.

Profiles of banned books from Carnegie Mellon can be found here.

Banned Books Week will be the week of October 1 through 7 in 2023. In 2015, according to the Banned Books Week website, nine out of ten books banned contained diverse content. What does that tell you?

If you are having trouble finding a banned book in your area, and you are between the ages of 13 and 21, you can go online to the Brooklyn Library and get their e-card that lets you take out books online, so you can read the books. Email them at: booksunbanned@bklynlibrary.org

If you are a New York State resident and teenager, you can apply for BPL’s free e-card here.

Another place to get information on banned books (and other books) is the American Library Association. They are the oldest and largest library association in the world.

Read banned books. Read all books. Speak up against this authoritarianism. We are on the slippery slope.

Books by Black Authors

I have chosen to simply list a few books by Black authors for you to begin reading while we are still in Black History Month. Google them, Buy them, Check them out of your local or e- library. But however you get them, read them, and enjoy them.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
And don’t forget the poetry: Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Amanda Gorman

The photo at the top of this post is from the website: Book Source Banter. They have many books to get to know there.

International Book Giving Day

International Book Giving Day Website

I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Books are a uniquely portable magic.
Stephen King

Books I Would Give to Everyone:

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede
The Magic Tunnel by Caroline D. Emerson

Reading is a form of prayer, a guided meditation that briefly makes us believe we’re someone else.
George Saunders

Others Recommendations:

WRITING: Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style from the Copy Chief of Random House by Benjamin Dreyer
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
POLITICS: Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America by Jared Cohen
MEMOIR: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Life’s That Way by Jim Beaver
SPIRITUAL: A Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Journals by Thomas Merton
A Walk with the Saints by James Martin, SJ
POETRY: Hailstones and Halibut Bones: Adventures in Poetry and Color by Mary O’Neill, John Wallner, illustrator
FICTION: Here be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.
Mary McLeod Bethune

I love the solitude of reading. I love the deep dive into someone else’s story, the delicious ache of a last page.
Naomi Shihab Nye

Download and color your bookmark today!

Griffins and Ginger Snaps

-I write, and I have a blog because of course I do-