Let's discuss historical fiction

The Teacher of Warsaw ~ by Mario Escobar, 2022, historical fiction, 368 pages

The start of WWII changed everything in Poland irrevocably — except for one man’s capacity to love.  In 1939 on the first of September. 60-year-old Janusz Korczak and the students and teachers at his Dom Sierot Jewish orphanage are outside enjoying a beautiful day in Warsaw.  Hours later, their lives are altered forever when the Nazis invade.  Suddenly treated as an outcast in his own city, Janusz — a respected leader known for his heroism and teaching — is determined to do whatever it takes to protect the children from the horrors to come.

When over four hundred thousand Jewish people are rounded up and forced to live in the 1.3-square-mile walled compound of the Warsaw ghetto, Janusz and his friends take drastic measures to shield the children from disease and starvation.  With dignity and courage, the teachers and students of Dom Sierot create their own tiny army of love and bravely prepare to march toward the future — whatever it may hold. T his book is a reminder that one person can inspire hope and love in others.

** Does anybody want to discuss this book with me?  I haven't started reading it yet, but I'm about to order this book because a friend recommended it to me.  I'll also post this information on Bonnie's Books, my primary blog since January 2007, found HERE.

Chapter 6 ~ Justice

Questions

1. Read Micah 6:1-8.  What are some of the ways that your family and community "Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God"?
2. How does this passage demonstrate the tension, or complementary relationship, between the work of compassion and the way of just living?
3. In your immediate community, who are the most vulnerable populations?  What are the immediate needs of these neighbors, and also, what would a deeper, more restorative kind of justice look like?
4. What are some barriers that your family or faith community might face in talking about privilege or systemic injustice?

The overview of More than Words is found here.  The photo above shows a doll who seems a bit perplexed by the book.

Chapter 5 ~ Joy

Questions

1. What does your family like to create together?
2. How do you practice joy as a family and in community?
3. Can you think of a time when your church (or community) faced uncertinty with creative problem solving?
4. Describe some glimpses of joy that you have seen in a simple moment, or in the midst of an otherwise difficult time.

The overview of More than Words is found here.  The photo above shows a big toy tiger holding the book.

Chapter 4 ~ Nonviolence

Questions

1. In what ways has violence become an accepted part of life for you?  Is there any level of violence in your theology, entertainment, or language that feels "appropriate" or "acceptable"?
2. How do you practice nonviolence in your home?  In your neighborhood or faith community?
3. What cultural barriers make that practice more difficult?
4. What Scriptures have you heard used out of context to defend capital punishment, "stand your ground" laws, or upholding violent systems in other ways?

The overview of More than Words is found here.  The photo above shows my cat Clawdia asleep beside the book.

Chapter 3 ~ Sabbath

Questions

1. What are some of the messages of scarcity that you receive on a daily basis?
2. How does your family practice gratitude and generosity?
3. How does your faith community embody the "liturgy of abundance"?  Or if your church lives in a pattern of scarcity, what language or practices might begin to change that pattern?
4. What is your favorite biblical story of abundance?  What does it teach you about living generously?

The overview of More than Words is found here.  The photo above shows the book and a toy elephant given to my mother many decades ago by one of her twelve grandchildren when they were young.  Mom had lots of great-grandchildren by the time she died in 2004.  (In other words, I've lost count.)

Chapter 2 ~ Abundance

Questions

1. What are some of the messages of scarcity that you receive on a daily basis?
2. How does your family practice gratitude and generosity?
3. How does your faith community embody the "liturgy of abundance"?  Or if your church lives in a pattern of scarcity, what language or practices might begin to change that pattern?
4. What is your favorite biblical story of abundance?  What does it teach you about living generously?

The overview of More than Words is found here.  The photo above shows Snoopy and his little pal rather than Clawdia, my cat who refused to pose for me.  Maybe she'll do it next time.

Chapter 1 ~ Compassion: Love in Action

Questions

1. What passion does your child possess that could be nurtured into an active compassion?  What passions of your own could be focused outward?
2. When have you heard "love" expressed in a way that might not be very loving in spirit?  How might you reframe that perspective and shape it into something more life-giving?
3. Where do you meet your greatest challenge to compassionate living?
4. How does your church, family, or local community engage in acts of compassion?  Do you see evidence of this practice or activity in the world around you?

The overview of More than Words is found here.  The photo above shows the author at a bookstore.

More than Words ~ by Erin Wathen

More than Words: 10 Values for the Modern Family ~ by Erin Wathen, 2017, relationships

The values we live and raise our families by are grounded, first, in love.  Contrary to many of today's so-called family values, our values go beyond one or two loaded social issues to a wholehearted lifestyle of practicing compassion, hospitality, justice, peace, and belonging.

This book articulates ten values that forward-thinking, openhearted people want to embody in their lives and pass on to their children.  With practical ideas and thought-provoking questions, this book inspires families to live more intentionally, engage their communities, and make a difference in the world.

Click each chapter to find the discussion questions:

1.  Compassion: Love in Action

2.  Abundance: The Root of Gratitude and Generosity

3.  Sabbath: Reclaiming Time to Be, and Be Together

4.  Nonviolence: Beyond Turning the Other Cheek

5.  Joy: Living with Creativity and Purpose

6.  Justice: More than Mercy

7.  Community: The Art of Neighboring

8.  Forgiveness: The Daily Bread of Relationships

9.  Equality: Made in God's Image

10. Authenticity: Being Who You Are

* Erin Wathen's website, including her Home and Holler blog.

Now What? Continuing the Work after Day 28

What do you do with your Me and White Supremacy journal?

• Return to the prompts again and again, going deeper each time.

Keep learning.

• Attend workshops.
• Take courses.
• Find articles.
• Read books (see the list on pp. 231-233, but also look for new books that are being published).
• Listen to podcasts (start with the list on p. 234).
• View films and documentaries (a few are listed on p. 234).
• Make lifelong learning about antiracism a goal.
• Check out all the Resources at the end of this book.

Show up for BIPOC.

• at meetings.
• at rallies.
• at marches.
• at fund-raisers.

Financially support those working for BIPOC rights.

• organizations.
• nonprofits.
• political candidates.

Live your commitments with integrity for your antiracist values.

• Challenge systems.
• Work to create structural changes.
• Dismantle white supremacy institutionally as well as personally.
• Do the work that you CAN do every day to create the change the world needs by creating change within yourself.
• Help change the world.

Work in groups (see the Appendix).

• Learn about The Circle Way (p. 213).

This chart is found on p. 217 (with "Hosting" and "Invitation" reversed).

Here's the link to The Circle Way found on page 212 in the Appendix
and links to the book's website, author's page, and her blog.

Week 4: Power, Relationships, and Commitments

Day 22: You and White Feminism

"If feminism can understand the patriarchy, it's imprt to question why so many feminists struggle to understand whiteness as a political structure in the very same way." — Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I' No Longer Talking to White People about Race

Day 23: You and White Leaders

"If we don't challenge each other to use our platforms for better than our niches or what our quote-unquote brand is, what are we doing as influencers?  If we can't activate our audiences at the times it's important or needed, then what do we have these platforms for?" — Luvvie Ajayi

Day 24: You and Your Friends

"There is no social-change fairy.  There is only change made by the hands of individuals." — Winona LaDuke

Day 25: You and Your Family

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." — Nelson Mandela

Day 26: You and Your Values

"Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public." — Cornel West

Day 27: You and Losing Privilege

"Whitness is an advantage and privilege because you have made it so, not because the universe demands it." — Michael Eric Dyson, Tears We CAnnot Stop: A Sermon to White America

Day 28: You and Your Commitments

"The relevant question is not whether all Whites are racist but how we can move move White people from a position of active or passive racism to one of active antiracism." — Beverly Daniel Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Footnote — The overview blog post for this book is found at this link:

Me and White Supremacy ~ by Layla F. Saad

Week 3: Allyship

Day 15: You and White Apathy

"Our humanity is worth a little discomfort, it's actually worth a lot of discomfort." — Ijeoma Oluo

Day 16: You and White Centering

"I have had reviews in the past that have accused me of not writing about white people ... as though our lives have no meaning and no depth without the white gaze.  And I've spent my entire writing life trying to make sure that the white gaze was not the dominant one in any of my books." — Toni Morrison

Day 17: You and Tokenism

"The norm is white, apparently, in the view of people who see things in that way.  For them, the only reason you would introduce a black charater is to introduce this kind of abnormality.  Usually, it's because you're telling a story about racism or at least race." — Octavia Butler

Day 18: You and White Saviorism

"Funny.  Slave masters thought they wer making a difference in black peple's lives too.  Saving them from their 'wild African ways.'  Same shit, different century.  I wish people like them would stop thinking that people like me need saving." — Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give

Day 19: You and Optical Allyship

"Racism should never have happened and so you don't get a cookie for reducing it." — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

Day 20: You and Being Called Out/Called In

"Mistakes are a fact of life.  It is the response to error that counts." — Nikki Giovanni

Day 21: Week 3 Review

"Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better." — Maya Angelou

Footnote — The overview blog post for this book is found at this link:

Me and White Supremacy ~ by Layla F. Saad

Week 2: Anti-Blackness, Racial Stereotypes, and Cultural Appropriation

Day 8: You and Color Blindness

"White people think it is a compliment when they do not 'see' you as a black person." — Morgan Jerkins, This Will Be My Undoing

Day 9: You and Anti-Blackness against Black Women

"Black women know what it means to love ourselves in a world that hates us." — Brittney Cooper, Eloquent Rage

Day 10: You and Anti-Blackness against Black Men

"Because white men can't police their imagination, black men are dying." — Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric

Day 11: You and Anti-Blackness against Black Children

"Black people love their hildren with a kind of obsession.  You are all we have, and you come to us endangered." — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

Day 12: You and Racist Stereotypes

"We think them Barbarians
Beautiful and scaring them
Earth shakin' rattling
Be wild out loud again"
— Mona Haydar

Day 13: You and Cultural Appropriation

"When you're a member of the privileged group, you don't take kindly to someone telling you that you can't do something."
— Tim Wise, White Like Me

Day 14: Week 2 Review

To see the whole picture, we have to look at each piece in turn and see the entire story being told.

Footnote — The overview blog post for this book is found at this link:

Me and White Supremacy ~ by Layla F. Saad

Week 1: The Basics

Day 1: You and White Privilege

"I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group." — Peggy McIntosh

Day 2: You and White Fragility

"It is white people's resposibility to be less fragile; People of Color don't need to twist themselves into knots trying to navigate us as painlessly as possible." — Robin DiAngelo

Day 3: You and Tone Policing

"I speak out of direct and particular anger at an academic conference, and a white woman says, 'Tell me how you feel but don't say it too harshly or I cannot hear you.'  But is it my manner that keeps her from hearing, or the threat of a message that her life may change?" — Audre Lorde

Day 4: You and White Silence

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Day 5: You and White Superiority

"When I got honest with myself, I had to own up to the fact that I'd bought into the myth of white superiority, silently and privately, explaining to myself the pattern of white dominance I observed as a natural outgrowth of biologically wired superior white intelligence and ability." — Debby Irving

Day 6: You and White Exceptionalism

"White people desperately want to believe than only the lonely, isolated 'whites only' club members are racist.  This is why the word racist offends 'nice white people' so deeply.  It challenges their self-identification as good people.  Sadly, most white people are more worried about being called racist than about whether or not their actions are in fact racist or harmful." — Austin Channing Brown

Day 7: Week 1 Review

Step back and take stock of what you have learned so far.

Footnote — The overview blog post for this book is found at this link:

Me and White Supremacy ~ by Layla F. Saad

Me and White Supremacy ~ by Layla F. Saad

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor ~ by Layla F. Saad, 2020, race relations

This book challenges white people to do the essential work of unpacking our biases, and helps us dismantle the privilege within ourselves so that we can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color.  And it shows us, in turn, how to help other white people do better, too.  It gives us the language to understand racism and to dismantle our own biases by walking step-by-step through the work of individually examining:

• My own white privilege
• What allyship really means
• Anti-blackness, racial stereotypes, and cultural appropriation
• How to change the way I view and respond to race
• How to continue the work to create social change

Table of Contents

Foreword ~ by Robin DiAngelo

Part I:  Welcome to the Work

• A Little about Me
• What Is White Supremacy?
• Who Is This Work For?
• What You Will Need to Do This Work
• How to Use This Book
• Self-Care, Support, and Sustainability

Part II:  The Work

• Week 1:  The Basics
• Week 2:  Anti-Blackness, Racial Stereotypes, and Cultural Appropriation
• Week 3:  Allyship
• Week 4:  Power, Relationships, and Commitments
• Now What?  Continuing the Work after Day 28

Appendix:  Working in Groups: Me and White Supremacy Book Circles

Resources

• Glossary
• Further Learning

Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Author

Links to the book's website, author's page, and her blog.

Notes of a Native Son ~ by James Baldwin

Notes of a Native Son ~ by James Baldwin, 1955, essays

These ten essays explore what it means to be Black in America by capturing a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength.  Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America.  He addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses.  The book collects ten of Baldwin's essays, which had previously appeared in such magazines as Harper's Magazine, Partisan Review, and The New Leader.

Summary

"Autobiographical Notes"

In spite of his father wanting him to be a preacher, Baldwin said he had always been a writer at heart.  He tried to find his path as a Negro writer; although he was not European, American culture is informed by that culture too — moreover, he had to grapple with other black writers.  He emphasizes the importance of his desire to be a good man and writer.

Part One

"Everybody's Protest Novel"

Baldwin castigates Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin for being too sentimental, and for depicting black slaves as praying to a white God so as to be cleansed and whitened.  He proceeds to repudiate Richard Wright's Native Son for portraying Bigger Thomas as an angry black man, viewing this as an example of stigmatizing categorization.

"Many Thousands Gone"

Baldwin offers a sharp critique of Richard Wright's Native Son, citing its main character, Bigger Thomas, as unrealistic, unsympathetic and stereotypical.

"Carmen Jones: The Dark Is Light Enough"

Baldwin criticises Carmen Jones, a film adaptation of Carmen using an all black cast.  Baldwin is unhappy that the characters display no connection to the condition of blacks and sees it as no coincidence that the main characters have lighter complexions.

Part Two

"The Harlem Ghetto"

Baldwin points out that the rent is very expensive in Harlem.  Although there are black politicians, the President is white.  On to the black press, Baldwin notes that it emulates the white press, with its scandalous spreads and so forth.  The black Church seems to him to be a unique forum for the spelling out of black injustice.  Finally, he ponders on antisemitism among blacks and comes to the conclusion that the frustration boils down to Jews being white and more powerful than Negroes.

"Journey to Atlanta"

Baldwin tells the story that happened to The Melodeers, a group of jazz singers employed by the Progressive Party to sing in Southern Churches.  However, once in Atlanta, Georgia, they were used for canvassing until they refused to sing at all and were returned to their hometown.  They now enjoy success in New York City.

"Notes of a Native Son"

Baldwin paints a vivid recollection of his time growing up with a paranoid father who was dying of tuberculosis, and his initial experience with Jim Crow style segregation.  Prior to his father's death, Baldwin was befriended by a white teacher whom his father disapproved of.  Later, he worked in New Jersey and was often turned down in segregated places — he recalls a time he hurled a cup half full of water at a waitress in a diner only to realize his actions could have dire consequences.  He goes on to say that blacks participating in military service in the South often got abused.  Finally, he recounts his father's death which occurred just before his mother gave birth to one of his sisters; his father's funeral was on his 19th birthday, the same day as the Harlem Riot of 1943.

Part Three

"Encounter on the Seine: Black Meets Brown"

Baldwin compares Black Americans to Blacks in France.  While Africans in France have a history and a country to hold on to, Black Americans don't — their history lies in the United States and it is in the making.

"A Question of Identity"

Baldwin explains how American students living in Paris are shocked when they arrive and are eager to return home.

"Equal in Paris"

Baldwin recounts getting arrested in Paris over the Christmas period in 1949, after an acquaintance of his had stolen a bedsheet from a hotel, which he had used.  The essay stresses his cultural inability to know how to behave with the police.

"Stranger in the Village"

Baldwin looks back to his time in a village in Switzerland — how he was the first black man most of the villagers had ever seen.  He goes on to reflect that blacks from European colonies are still mostly located in Africa, while the United States has been fully informed by blacks.

Born a Crime ~ by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood ~ by Trevor Noah, 2016, memoir (South Africa)

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act:  his birth.  Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison.  Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away.  Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

This is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist.  It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother — his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting.  Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty.  His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.

Table of Contents

Immorality Act, 1927

Part I

Chapter 1 ~ Run
Chapter 2 ~ Born A Crime
Chapter 3 ~ Trevor, Pray
Chapter 4 ~ Chameleon
Chapter 5 ~ The Second Girl
Chapter 6 ~ Loopholes
Chapter 7 ~ Fufi
Chapter 8 ~ Robert

Part II

Chapter 9 ~ The Mulberry Tree
Chapter 10 ~ A Young Man's ... Education ... Part I: Valentine's Day
Chapter 11 ~ Outsider
Chapter 12 ~ A Young Man's ... Education ... Part II: The Crush
Chapter 13 ~ Colorblind
Chapter 14 ~ A Young Man's ... Education ... Part III: The Dance

Part III

Chapter 15 ~ Go Hitler!
Chapter 16 ~ The Cheese Boys
Chapter 17 ~ The World Doesn't Love You
Chapter 18 ~ My Mother's Life

Purple Hibiscus ~ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus ~ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2003, fiction (Nigeria)

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a very privileged life.  They live in a beautiful house in Enugu, Nigeria and attend an exclusive missionary school, but their home life is not harmonious:  although their father is a respected businessman, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home.  When their loving and outspoken aunt persuades her brother that the children should visit her, Kambili and Jaja take their first trip away from home.  Once inside their Aunty Ifeoma's flat in the smaller city of Nsukka, they discover a whole new world.  And when they return home, changed by their newfound freedom, nothing can be the same as before.  Tension within the family esalates, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together — even after her mother commits a desperate act.

Click to enlarge the map

Where's Nigeria?

Here's a map, showing Nigeria on the west coast of Africa.  Can you find Enugu near the bottom of the country?  Nsukka is shown just north of Enugu.   Here are some quick facts about the country.  To learn more about Nigeria, read this Wikipedia article.

Instructions from Bonnie

Comment ANY time you like, even before we start reading the book.  Start by leaving a comment now to let us know you'll join us in the discussion.

As you read, you may want to comment about a particular scene or something that puzzles or intrigues you.  Ask questions.  Consider the first question below as you read, then comment if you like.  DO NOT read more than the first two or three questions before you have read the book, because there are spoilers in some of the questions.

If you are confused by my directions, tell me so I can make changes or clarify for you and everyone else.  We are not in any hurry to finish the book, and this post will always be here for you to come back to, even after our discussion ends.  At least, it will remain as long as "Blogger" doesn't delete the whole thing.  You can see on the sidebar (if you're on a computer) that we've discussed more than thirty books since 2007.

Discussion Questions

There are 15 discussion questions in the back of the book (the edition shown above), courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com.

1. What is the emotional atmosphere in Kambili's home?  What effect does this have on Kambili and Jaja?  Why is their father so strict?
2. When Kambili visits Aunty Ifeoma, she is immediately struck by how much laughter fills the house.  Why is it so surprising to her to hear people speak, laugh, and argue so freely?  How does she manage to regain her own ability to speak and, most importantly, to laugh?
3. When Kambili hears Amaka weeping after her grandfather's death, Kambili thinks:  "She had not learned the art of silent crying.  She had not needed to" (p. 185).  What does this passage suggest about the differences between Amaka and Kambili?  In what other ways are Aunty Ifeoma's children — Amaka, Obiora, and Chima — different from Kambili and Jaja?
4. Amaka says, "Uncle Eugene is not a bad man, really. . . . People have problems, people make mistakes" (p. 251).  Is he in fact a "bad man"?  Why does he violently abuse his wife and children?  What good deeds does he perform?  How can his generosity and political integrity coexist with his religious intolerance?
5. In what ways are Aunty Ifeoma and Eugene differrent from one another?  How does each character approach life?  How do they differ in their religious views?  Why is Ifeoma so much happier even though she is poor and her brother is rich?
6. Eugene boasts that his Kambili and Jaja are "not like those loud children people are raising these days, with no home training and no fear of God"; to which Ade Coker replies:  "Imagine what the Standard would be if we were all quiet" (p. 58).  Why is quiet obedience a questionable virtue in a country where the truth needs to be spoken?  In what ways is the refusal to be quiet dangerous?
7. What kind of man is Papa-Nnukwu?  What are his most appealing qualities?  What do the things he prays for say about his character?  Why has his son disowned him so completely?
8. What are the ironies involved in Eugene loving God the Father and Jesus the Son, but despising his own father and abusing his own son?
9. Why does Kambili's mother keep returning to her husband, even after he beats her so badly that he causes a miscarriage, and even after he nearly kills Kambili?  How does she justify her husband's behavior?  How should she be judged for poisoning her husband?
10. How does Father Amadt bring Kambili to life?  Why is her relationship with him so important to her sense of herself?
11. Jaja questions why Jesus had to be sacrificed:  "Why did He have to murder his own son so we would be saved?  Why didn't He just go ahead and save us?" (p. 289).  And yet, Jaja sacrifices himself to save his mother from prison.  Why does he do this?  Should this be understood as a Christian sacrifice or a simple act of compassion and bravery?
12. After Aunty Ifeoma moves her family to the United States, Amaka writes, "There has never been a power outage and hot water runs from a tap, but we don't laugh aymore. . . . because we no longer have the time to laugh, because we don't even see one another" (p. 301).  What does this passage suggest about the essential difference between American culture and African culture?
13. What does the novel as a whole say about the nature of religion?  About the relationship between belief and behavior?
14. What does Purple Hibiscus reveal about life in Nigeria?  How are Nigerians similar to Americans?  In what significant ways are they different?  How do Americans regard Nigerians in the novel?
15. Why does Chimananda Ngozi Adichie end the novel with an image of rain clouds?  What are the implications of Kambili feeling that the clouds hung so low she "could reach out and squeeze the moisture from them"?  What is the meaning of the novel's very simple final sentence:  "The new rains will come down soon"?

Living in the Tension ~ by Shelly Tochluk

Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice ~ by Shelly Tochluk, 2016

For many, spiritual and racial justice principles go hand in hand.  Yet, although seemingly compatible, tensions often arise when people try to live out their associated values and strategies.  Further, there are those who sit solidly on one side of either spirituality or advocacy and fail to see the connection between the two.

Spiritually-oriented people often say:

People focused on politics and social justice activism are angry, wounded, unhealthy individuals who sabotage their own efforts by using antagonistic and divisive language, including terms like oppression, privilege, and supremacy.

On the other hand, racial justice advocates often say:

People focused on their spirituality as part of their personal growth are trying to escape into transcendence or a false "kumbaya" experience and deny their ongoing role in continuing personal and institutional racism, privilege, and the reinforcement of an unjust status quo that operates through interlocking systems of oppression.

Why do these tensions matter?

There is a vast potential of untapped transformative power waiting to be released if activists and spiritual people of various racial backgrounds build and strengthen bridges between their differing principles and expectations.

How can this book help?

Each chapter tackles one tension-filled theme and asks:  What happens if one side of the tension is ignored?  How can a both/and approach allow spirituality and racial justice efforts to support one another?

Chapter 1:  Transcendence and Race Consciousness
Chapter 2:  Self-Acceptance and Self-Improvement
Chapter 3:  Personal Healing and Political Action
Chapter 4:  Common Humanity and Group Differences
Chapter 5:  Belonging and Appropriation
Chapter 6:  Inner Truth and Accountability

Shelly Tochluk wrote an essay titled Grounding, which describes her life’s philosophical and spiritual foundation.  The 17-page PDF can be printed out, if you are interested.

Picking up Compassion again

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2010

Back in 2014, some of us started working our way through this book. We got all the way to August and the 8th step before the project dwindled down to only Shirley and me.  Here's what we wrote about each of the eight steps we did:

Overview ~ Practice Compassion

Preface ~ Wish for a Better World
The First Step ~ Learn About Compassion
The Second Step ~ Look at Your Own World
The Third Step ~ Compassion for Yourself
The Fourth Step ~ Empathy
The Fifth Step ~ Mindfulness
The Sixth Step ~ Action
The Seventh Step ~ How Little We Know
The Eighth Step ~ How Should We Speak to One Another?
The Ninth Step ~ Concern for Everybody
The Tenth Step ~ Knowledge
The Eleventh Step ~ Recognition
The Twelfth Step ~ Love Your Enemies

Joy @ Joy's Book Blog has set up Compassionate Sunday for a year of "a process for developing personal compassion to engage in compassionate community for a more compassionate world."  She has set up a link list for those willing to discuss their progress in blog posts.  "Or," she says, "you can join the discussion in the comments or on Facebook, where I’ll post a link to this post to anchor a discussion."  As of today, she's off and running with it.  Here's a link to her First Step: Learn about Compassion.

The Kashmir Shawl ~ May 2015

The Kashmir Shawl ~ by Rosie Thomas, 2011, fiction (India)

It is the eve of 1941 and World War II is engulfing the globe. Newlywed Nerys Watkins leaves rural Britain to accompany her husband on a missionary posting to India, but when he leaves her in the exotic lakeside of Srinagar to take on a complicated mission elsewhere, she discovers a new world.  Here, in the heart of Kashmir, the British dance, flirt, and gossip against the backdrop of war and Nerys soon becomes caught up in a dangerous liaison.  By the time she is reunited with her husband, she is a very different woman.

Years later, Nerys's granddaughter Mair Ellis clears out her dead father's house and finds an exquisite shawl — a kaleidoscope of silvery blues and greens.  Wrapped in the folds of this delicate object is a lock of a child's curly hair.  With nothing else to go on, Mair decides to trace her roots back to Kashmir, embarking on a quest that will change her own life forever.

Kashmir is in the news today!  Accusing al-Jazeera of "cartographic aggression," India has taken that news channel off the air.  "India says maps used by the channel are incorrect, as they show the region of Kashmir as divided between Pakistan, India, and China.  Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan in its entirety but has effectively been divided since 1948."

Click on map to enlarge it

Although I thought I was reading about India in this novel, I was confused enough that I looked up "Kashmir" to find out whether it's part of Pakistan or India or what.  That's when I discovered today's article showing that both countries claim that area, even now.  (And apparently, so does China.)  This book, then, is giving us background for the still-volatile place that is Kashmir.  I also found this helpful map, showing Srinagar near the top of India.

DISCUSSION

Author's web site
Novel's opening lines
Party with the characters (at Essencia Island)
Answer a question or two (or make up your own) in the comments:

1.  Which character could you relate to best?
2.  Were there any other especially interesting characters?
3.  Was the book different from what you expected?
4.  Was location important to the story?
5.  Was the time period important to the story?
6.  Would you recommend this book?
7.  What did you like most about the book?
8.  What did you like least?
9.  Did you like the way the book ended?

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