Category: Week Wrap-up

Wrapping up the Week – March 28, 2015

Published on by Marilyn2 Comments

A light snow has fallen all day. I’m sitting on the couch watching the flakes dance with abandon, blown by the wind, just doing what snow flakes do. I smile in spite of myself. They stop at the whim of no one but their Creator. Would that I be the same! Unstoppable in purpose, dancing with abandon and joy.

In our part of the world it’s a perfect day to curl up with some good reads!

Holding Space by Heather Plett is my first pick. I’ve never seen this blog before but I am struck by the author’s desire to in her words “hold meaningful conversations.” In the piece I have linked to, Heather talks about how a palliative care nurse helped walk her family through end of life care by “holding space for them.” She describes what this is and how to do it well. I found the piece wise and interesting and hope you will too.

Excerpt: “What does it mean to “hold space” for people? What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.”

You Probably Won’t Read this Piece About Syria is in Al Jazeera and felt sad, troubling, and convicting. March 15th was the anniversary of Syria’s fifth year of conflict, fifth year of civil war. The article is a direct challenge to continue to care. A challenge to the journalist, a challenge to the reader, a challenge to you and I. The difficulty that I pondered as I attended a party with mostly Syrians a few days later is: how do I care? what does it look like practically to continue to care when we are miles away? I would love to hear what you think.

Excerpt: “Several human rights groups, and many Syrians, had a powerful accusation to make that day. The world, they said, had failed the country and her people. The world didn’t care anymore.

The twisted steal the attention. And the people we should pay attention to fade into the background, bit players in a narrative wrongly and unfairly dominated by the grotesque.

Sometimes journalism itself feels like a fight to get people to care.

And as often, maybe more often, it’s a fight to get yourself to. Every day, the media deals in stories of death and devastation and despair. Too often, it feels like work, just there to be processed. A day’s pay to be earned.

But we have a duty. Because these are other people’s stories.

And they deserve to have them heard.”

We Palestinians Say “Allahu Akbar” by Nadezhda Kevorkova is an interview with the only Palestinian Orthodox Christian priest in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It is a fascinating interview and I think it is an important one for Western Christians in particular to read. Archbishop Sebastia Theodosios talks about being Palestinian and being united with Muslims and Christians alike in the Palestinian struggle. He also challenges the notion that the word “Allah” should only be used by Muslims. Allah is the word for God, and in Arabic speaking places both Christians and Muslims alike use this word. I find it incredibly irritating when Western Christians go off on the word “Allah” ignorant of how it is used in other parts of the world. He reclaims the words “Allahu Akbar” as words that a Christian can use to express the greatness of our Creator. This is only one of many interesting things in the interview.

Excerpt: My church has been protecting the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the sacred items related to the life of Christ and Christian Church history.

I am proud of my religion and nationality, I am proud to belong to my fatherland. I am a Palestinian, and I belong to this religious people who are fighting for the sake of their freedom and dignity to implement their dreams and national rights. I support Palestinians and share their cause and their issues. We the Palestinian Orthodox Christians are not detached from their hardships.The Palestinian issue is a problem that concerns all of us, Christians and Muslims alike. It’s a problem of every free intellectual individual aspiring for justice and freedom in this world.

We the Palestinian Christians suffer along with the rest of Palestinians from occupation and hardships of our economic situation. Muslims and Christians suffer equally, as there is no difference in suffering for any of us. We are all living in the same complicated circumstances, and overcoming the same difficulties.

As a church and as individuals we protect this people, and we hope a day will come when Palestinians get their freedom and dignity.”

On my night stand: I’m so excited about this next book! I met the author at the Families in Global Transition conference that I went to in March in Washington D.C. Her name is Brittani Sonnenberg and the title of the book is Home Leave. The book is about a global family but centers on two sisters. Stay tuned for more as I do a book give away in the next week or two. It was amazing to meet this talented young author and I look forward to giving away a copy of Home Leave. Instead of an excerpt I will leave you with one of the reviews of the book on Amazon.

Review: “It’s hard to believe that this astonishing novel is Brittani Sonnenberg’s first–she writes about family with wisdom, humor, and native daring. Here is Persephone’s journey, undertaken by an entire family, the Kriegsteins, who ricochet through time zones, moving from Berlin to Singapore to Wisconsin to Shanghai to Atlanta, together and alone. Sonnenberg’s prose is so vital and so enchanting that you will read this book in the dilated state of a world-traveler, with all of your senses wide open. Her family members are so well-drawn and complex that you’ll close this book certain they exist.“—Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Travel Quote:

plane with quote 

Now it’s your turn! What have you been reading? What do you recommend? I would love to hear from you. 

Wrapping up the week – March 7, 2015

Published on by Marilyn2 Comments

While you read this, I will be sitting with a group of people I’ve never met, but with whom I have a great deal in common. I am at the Families in Global Transition conference in Washington, DC. I will write more about this group later, but for now I am enjoying the gift of spending time with like-minded people and I can’t wait to weigh in through writing on all I learn and do. But onto some good reads! 

The Wanderlust Gene: When People are Born to Travel. This essay says it all. And it completely validates my essay in Between Worlds called “Designed for Travel.” Those of you who itch to get on planes, and who rearrange the furniture when you can’t hop on a plane, will love this essay! Just a note that my dad for sure has this gene! He will be 89 years old this summer and he still has that twinkle in his eye and a lilt in his step when he gets to go on a trip.

Excerpt: You’ve been this way for as long as you can remember – which probably dates back to your first few trips growing up, boarding that plane to Disney World every few winters, as a child.

According to recent scientific claims, it may have been embedded in your DNA, even before that.

As told on one psychology blog, the inherent urge to travel can be traced back to one gene, which is a genetic derivative of the gene DRD4, which is associated with the dopamine levels in the brain.

Repairable by Tara Livesay in A Life Overseas. This beautiful post is such a picture of second and third chances. Tara lives in Haiti with her large and lovely family. As a person, I deeply admire Tara from my computer screen. Our only connection has been online but she is all the things I admire in a person. Strong, funny, deeply loves God and the world, and a midwife so that sealed the deal for me! I urge you to head to A Life Overseas and read this essay but for now, here is an excerpt.

Excerpt: I remember vividly the pain of crashing a second time. I was a divorced, single mom.

At twenty-two years old I was trying desperately to piece my life back together after the second shattering.

I said and thought things to myself.
“I cannot be fixed.”
“Once was enough.”
“Who will love you now?”
“This is too much. Give up.”
“You cannot be made whole.”

Cracked into so many jagged pieces, repair and restoration seemed unlikely if not impossible. 

At the time I was carrying in my womb the unplanned little baby girl who would grow up to look me in the eye and say to me with confidence, “This is repairable, you just watch.”

From a Private School in Cairo to Isis Killing Fields in Syria in NY Times. There are many theories behind why people join ISIS. The fact is we don’t know what all goes into a person’s decision but we do know that it is a group that crosses cultural and national boundaries. This is an article that looks at the life of a young man in Cairo and his journey to join ISIS. It was the impetus for the piece I wrote called “A Mother’s Grief; A Father’s Pain.”

Excerpt: “But it is here, in the very fabric of this community, the living rooms, the streets, the mosques and the halls of power, that the fertile ground of extremism has been prepared.

There is no single path that leads to jihad, but in exploring Mr. Yaken’s life, signposts emerge. There are influences familiar and easy to discuss, like a lack of economic opportunity and a renewed sense of political alienation, especially among youths. But there are also more delicate subjects — less often publicly debated, let alone dissected — like the increasingly conservative thinking that defines the faith for many Muslims today, or sexual repression among young people who are taught that their physical and emotional desires can bring them eternal damnation.” [emphasis mine]

On my night stand: I have finished I am Malala and am processing the book. There are things I liked about it, and there are things that concerned me. My opinion of the book has nothing to do with my opinion of Malala herself. I think she is an amazing young woman and I look forward to hearing more from her in the future. It’s the book that I’m processing. I look forward to reviewing it in this space in the next couple of weeks. I am reading a small book called Stories from Gaza, given to me by my daughter Stefanie for Christmas. I love the whole premise of the book, which is making sure stories from Gaza survive and are not only told, but published for wider distribution.

Travel Quote: This one comes from the article above. Enjoy!

map-wanderlust quote

Photo Credit: http://pixabay.com/en/map-navigation-hands-travel-route-455769/ WordArt by Marilyn R Gardner

Wrapping up the Week – February 14, 2015

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For those who follow Communicating Across Boundaries regularly, you know that I am buried under seven feet of snow. We have word that another 18 inches are coming tomorrow into Monday. I have nothing else to say on that matter!

But snow and indoors make for some great reads! We go from forgiveness to homes to vaccinations in today’s recommendations. I hope you enjoy them!

The Act of Rigorous Forgiveness by David Brooks is a stunning piece in the NY Times. The impetus for the piece is the scandal in the United States of news anchor Brian Williams and his lying about being in a military helicopter that came under fire during the Iraq war. What I appreciate about the piece is Brooks does not focus on the ‘sin’ of Brian Williams; rather he moves us into a deeper look at forgiveness, not as a sentimental gesture but as a ‘rigorous’ action. He then describes the steps of rigorous forgiveness. This is an article worthy of bookmarking and re-reading. The excerpt I have chosen hit me hard, because I see the tendency in writing to do those very things.

Excerpt: “The sad part is the reminder that no matter how high you go in life and no matter how many accolades you win, it’s never enough. The desire for even more admiration races ahead. Career success never really satisfies. Public love always leaves you hungry. Even very famous people can do self-destructive things in an attempt to seem just a little cooler.”

Safe as Houses by Rebecca Martin in Curator Magazine. Of all the pieces I have read in the past two weeks this piece moved me deeply. The author begins by taking us into her childhood world and the houses she experienced in books. From there she talks about houses, safety, and paying attention to those around us. But that’s doing the article a serious disservice because it is so much more. Lovers of literature will especially love this piece as she pulls quotes of home and space from a variety of sources.

Excerpt: What is the point of yearning for a home if some piece of eternity can’t break into this present reality and illuminate ordinary days with a sense of belonging, of comfort, of peace, of history, of safety, of meaning, of home in all its best iterations?

On Vaccinations and Immunity, thoughts from east Africa by Rachel Pieh Jones. You would have to be an ostrich to miss the outrage on social media about the outbreak of measles at Disney Land. I love this piece because it gives the perspective of people who live in countries that don’t have a lot of money, that are not privileged, and that understand the terrible consequences of the decision not to vaccinate. As a public health nurse this piece resonates; as someone who has lived in the developing world it resonates even more. Rachel also quotes from the book on my night stand — On Immunity by Eula Biss.

Excerpt: “When someone tells me, in the US, that they don’t need to vaccinate because we don’t have those diseases here anymore, I want to say, ‘The reason we don’t see those diseases is because of vaccines.’ Kristen Howerton of Rage Against the Minivan quoted this statistic: ‘It is estimated that before vaccines and antibiotics more than 70% of children died before the age of five.’ It is an incalculable privilege to be able to raise our kids in a time without rampant diseases that blind, maim, and kill. The diseases have not been eradicated, our kids are simply protected. And they aren’t protected because of some imaginary ‘super immune system’ or because they are being raised in an illusion of isolation. They are protected because of vaccines.”

On my night stand: Nothing new to report, but some new ones on the horizon! Namely a book given to me by my husband for my birthday Midnight at the Pera Palace – The Birth of Modern Istanbul. I hope to get lost in that in the next few weeks.

Travel Quote (of sorts!)

door Narnia quote

Lastly, Happy Valentine’s Day to those of you who celebrate! We’ve done some posts on Valentine’s Day in the past and I have linked those below for any who want to read. We tend to challenge the notion of Hollywood and Hallmark expectations in these pieces!

 

Wrapping Up the Week – January 31, 2015

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Now Available on Kindle! 

Between Worlds

Along with the massive snow storm affectionately called the Blizzard of 2015, the big news here this week is that Between Worlds – Essays on Culture and Belonging is on Kindle! More so it’s FREE on Kindle until Sunday night so please! Take advantage of it! If you have a Kindle or any kind of electronic reader there is nothing to lose! And maybe, just maybe, you’ll want the print edition as well. A girl can hope. Click here to get your free prize. Stay tuned for a giveaway on the blog next week! 

Conversion Roads by Laura Merzig Fabrycky. The best thing I read all week comes from a friend who writes for the Washington Institute of Vocation and Culture. This piece comes from the wisdom of a child’s remark at a dinner table. You won’t want to miss the poignant challenge of this piece.

Excerpt:  “It is not lost on me that parts of modern-day Nineveh — right where Jonah was sent by God — are still under the control of Daesh, those who call themselves the Islamic State. My heart is not unlike Jonah’s in  that I naturally long for God’s holy, wrathful judgment upon these murderous zealots, rather than for his gracious, blindingly good interventions. Perhaps among these we call Daesh, there may be another Saul? And perhaps, among us, there may be another Jonah?”

After The Slaughter, A Pakistani School Seeks To Heal. You all know that Pakistan has a big chunk of my heart. This piece goes along with the piece I wrote a couple of weeks ago called “The Courage to Begin Again.” 

Excerpt: At first glance, the school does look “healed up.” Clumps of bright-eyed boys, wearing smart, dark-green jackets and gray slacks, are hanging around on the lawns outside beneath a dripping gray sky. They’re chatting and examining this arriving stranger with friendly interest. Classes are over for the day; they’re waiting to go home.

Then you start to notice the details. The fresh concrete, where the school’s perimeter walls have been made much higher; the glistening new razor wire coiled on top of those walls; the soldiers with machine guns guarding them; and also, hanging from those same walls, the many banners bearing the words, in capital letters: “I SHALL RISE, AND I SHALL SHINE.”

With fewer voices, Auschwitz survivors speak This week marked the 70th anniversary of the closing of Auschwitz. The stories of Auschwitz continue to make us shudder and close our eyes to the horror, and to take our breath away with the hope and resilience shown by survivors. I did not want to miss talking about this during this week. Here is another piece from BBC News: Auschwitz 70th anniversary: Survivors warn of new crimes

Making “Fawaffles”: An Experiment with Arab and American Cultural Identity This is a delightful read by a kindred spirit and blog friend, Jessica. Jessica is half Palestinian – her mother grew up in Nazareth – and half American – her dad grew up in the midwest. Jessica knows well what it is to grow up Between Worlds. One of the ways she has chosen to embrace this is through food. You have to read her blog to learn more about this, but I love what she does with her blog Bint Rhoda’s Kitchen. In the meantime take a look at the article I linked above.

Excerpt: “But here’s the thing about being a third-culture-kid, about being from more than one place.  You always have more cards than you show.  And maybe, just maybe, the only way to truly be at home is for you to occasionally, just occasionally, throw down your whole hand.”

On my bedside stand: I’m still reading I am Malala – here’s a poignant quote from this past week

First the Taliban took our music, then our Buddhas, then our history…”

Travel Quote: Source – http://istanabagus.com/quotes/travel-quotes/

world make memories

Picture Credit: http://pixabay.com/en/hands-world-map-global-earth-600497/ word art by Marilyn R. Gardner

Wrapping up the week – January 24th, 2015

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I’m sitting on my couch looking out on a white world. Snow is falling in those big, beautiful flakes that you can easily distinguish. It’s producing white fluff, like marshmallows, on the ground. Our Greek neighbor, the oldest man on the block, has already cleaned his sidewalk so well that it looks like it never snowed.

And though I don’t want to admit it, this fluffy world is beautiful. It hides city dirt and throws a blanket of lovely across roads and houses.

It’s been a busy week. We came back midday on Martin Luther King Day and the very next day I went to an all day workshop on health insurance and the Affordable Care Act. And if you are in the United States and you don’t understand the ACA or health insurance, don’t worry – it really does take a rocket scientist. This I can attest.

But on that note – here is a site called ObamaCare Explained that includes a video called ObamaCare for Dummies. The title may not endear you to it but believe me, when it come to health coverage, we are all dummies. It’s that crazy complicated.

This week I am focusing on some photojournalism – pictures that tell stories in places and ways where words limit.

  • Demolished. Here is a look at the history of public housing in Chicago through pictures.
  • Along with that, a friend who lives in Afghanistan alerted me to this photo essay. A “majestic building in Afghanistan and the destruction it has seen.” Take a look here.

Both of these essays feel critically important to me – the story they tell, the people that are affected. What do you think?

Excerpt: “Because of you, our understanding of the Gospel includes rough places made plain and crooked places made straight.  Your belief taught us to seek healing and to fight for restoration.” 

  • A Railway Pilgrimage in Pakistan This piece called  took me back in time to the many train journeys in my youth. For those who read my book Between Worlds you will remember the essay “The Train Party.” The essay I link above is a wonderful piece that includes beautiful pictures and stories of people along the journey.

Excerpt: “The train whistle blows, echoing throughout the station. “Can I carry your luggage?” a porter asks me. I shake my head and push my way into the crowd. The Khyber Mail is parked just ahead—the Pakistan Railways logo painted in fine white lettering in English and Urdu on the side of the engine. Through the windows of the Mail I glimpse families stuffing metal trunks, rolls of bedding, water coolers, and metal containers of food under the berth or wherever they would fit. For the tuck-shops—the small kiosks selling toys, snacks, and everyday items—on the platform, this is a burst of brisk business. Chai vendors scurry back and forth collecting empty glasses from passengers as the train starts to pull out of the platform.”

Excerpt:“Chinese will regularly comment on your weight, your age and the way you raise your kids. You get used to it, but some comments are stunners. In 2012, near Chongqing in central China, a weathered peasant, who was standing around eating peanuts, asked me my age. When I told him 61, he laughed. “I’m 80 and I look better than you,” he said. So this guy, who probably weighed 100 pounds and was missing most of his teeth, thought he looked better than me? Next time, I resolved, I’d say I was 90 and see what happens. (I never did it.)”

Reader Jocelyn brought this piece to my attention: Thoughts on Peace, MLK Jr., Hiba, and Life Unarmed.

On my night stand: I continue to read I am Malala – I don’t really want it to end and I haven’t had much reading time lately so my wish may come true!

Travel Quote: This one comes from blog reader Ginny. Thank you Ginny – love this!

Cairo View 2 Sarah Groves quoteWhat have you read or seen?

 

Wrapping up the Week – January 17, 2015

Published on by Marilyn9 Comments

I have some great reads to share with you today! These are pieces that resonated with my soul in many ways. From depression in an immigrant mom to a dying mom’s prayer, there is a lot to read and take in and process.

Excerpt: “The strain of burying the past, losing one identity and embracing another, can be overwhelming. Home is an indelible place. It is the landscape of unfiltered experience, of things felt rather than thought through, of the world in its beauty absorbed before it is understood, of patterns and sounds that lodge themselves in the psyche and call out across the years. When home is left behind, or shattered, an immense struggle often ensues to fill the void.

I was born in London to South African Jewish parents. We left almost immediately for South Africa, lived there for two years and returned to Britain. Although the word was never uttered, we were immigrants. Our priority was assimilation into Englishness. Pogroms and penury had been left far behind. The past was as silent as a village at the bottom of a dam.”

  • From Teenage Angst to Jihad: The Anger of Europe’s Young Marginalized Muslims by Abdelkader Benali in New York Times Opinion. This is a powerful piece that looks at the struggle of immigrant teenagers as they come of age and face people and opinions who they feel don’t understand where they are coming from. Jhumpa Lahiri talks about being raised by immigrant parents and says it’s like being raised in an alternate universe. It is a difficult journey for any teen in the western world to work through their identity. For the teenager who is an immigrant, there are some unique challenges.

Excerpt: Something snapped. I was 13 years old, dreaming of books and girls and nothing else — a healthy Dutch kid with a Moroccan background who freewheeled through life. Then something happened that made me feel different from the pack. One day in history class, the fatwa against Salman Rushdie became the subject. Our teacher talked about freedom of expression; I talked about insulting the Prophet. There was an awkward silence. What was that Abdelkader guy talking about? Fatwhat?

  • By Degrees – Living and Dying by Kara Tippetts. Trigger Warning: Tears, maybe sobs. A mom is dying and her husband does what he has to do – calls hospice. This is a beautiful, deeply vulnerable piece about dying – but also about living. Grab tea and tissues.

Excerpt: “So, there it is. My little body has grown tired of battle and treatment is no longer helping. But what I see, what I know, what I have is Jesus. He has still given me breath, and with it I pray I would live well and fade well. By degrees doing both, living and dying, as I have moments left to live. I get to draw my people close, kiss them and tenderly speak love over their lives. I get to pray into eternity my hopes and fears for the moments of my loves. I get to laugh and cry and wonder over heaven. I do not feel like I have the courage for this journey, but I have Jesus- and He will provide it.

Excerpt: It is time to start examining our books, our traditions, our hearts. I don’t know what it will take for violence to end but I know one of the first steps needs to be developing compassion.

Compassion: to suffer with.

I don’t mean developing an emotion or an inner attitude of compassion. I mean active, engaged compassion. Intentional. In order to suffer with we have to look at each other and engage with each other. We have to know each other’s stories. In order to do that we have to get into relationships, we have to meet people. In order to do that we have to take the gigantic risk of stepping outside our homogenous circles.

On my night stand: I’m continuing with On Immunity by Eula Biss that I wrote about last week, but I’ve begun I am Malala and that is the book traveling with me to a wedding in Florida! I am loving reading about this young woman and her family. The things about Pakistan are both familiar and remind me how much I don’t know about this country.

Travel Quote: Today’s travel quote is from Robynn and it’s perfect! 

suitcases with quote

How about you? What have you read? Seen? Heard? Any new travel quotes? We would love to see them in the comment section.

Picture Credit: http://pixabay.com/en/airport-travel-traveler-business-519020/ word art by Marilyn R. Gardner

Wrapping up the Week – January 9, 2015

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A couple of years ago I began a week wrap-up. I stopped it during one summer and never revived it. Recently several people have asked me about it. “Remember how you used to tell us about articles and about what you were reading?” they said. “We miss it.” While I can’t promise it every week I’m going to try to do this every two weeks. What I would ask you to do is to use the comment section for your recommendations and why you recommend the piece. That way it becomes a richer conversation all around!

Worth reading:

  • “Hawk Mountain” from Brain Child Magazine.  A death, a hike, and remembering — this piece beautifully explores all three of these as a mom takes a hike with her family.

Excerpt: “The sixth century monk St. Benedict reminded his students that they should live in such a way as to “Keep the reality of death always before [their] eyes.” I think of Louisa as I hike. I think of her family, who in their blinding grief, feel the dark edges of this reality.   I think of how my life is small in the ways of the universe, tiny in the eyes of the sun or the shadow of this tree. I glance up and see Grant ahead of me, his strides growing confident and sturdier as we climb. I turn and see Mark behind me with Renee, weary from her fearless exploring, hoisted onto his shoulders. They are all so full of life. The blood pumps through their bodies, the neurons explode, rocket-ship-style, in their brains.  Unpredictable, wild, beautiful. Alive, like the trees growing skyward, like the hawks catching the wind, all but a breath.”

Excerpt: “Sobremesa – the time spent after lunch or dinner, talking to the people you shared the meal with.” 

  • How Cultures Around the World Make Decisions from Ideas.Ted.Com. This article begins with the caption: “Is the American obsession with individual freedom really such a great idea? What other cultures know about how to make good choices.” This is a thought provoking piece that challenges the obsession Americans have with individual freedom.

Excerpt: “THE AMERICAN CULTURAL RESPONSIBILITY TO REVERE CHOICE HAS BEEN PRESENT SINCE BEFORE AMERICA WAS AMERICA. IN OTHER WORDS, IT WAS NEVER A CHOICE.” “The American obsession with choice insists that choice be installed globally, whether through geopolitics or consumer goods. It’s anathema to let people limit their own choices.” 

Excerpt: “Rarely, if ever, it seems, has this Western blend of belief and materialism been so remote from the experience of hundreds of thousands of Christians elsewhere struggling to cope with an unwanted and bloody collision with the Islamic exclusivism of jihadists, primarily in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria. And rarely have Western worshipers seemed so reluctant to acknowledge that their faith could be entering the final stage of its long decline in the lands where it was born and first propagated.”

Excerpt: “Perhaps our unspoken fear is that If we learn to sing songs of joy in this new place, this new land, then we will forget the old, we will lose our identity, all that we know, all that is familiar. As one person put it: “I wanted to preserve my identity, to hold dear the soil in which my roots are settled, to Never Forget who I Am. After all — my identity has come at such a high cost.”

On my nightstand: On Immunity: An Innoculation by Eula Biss. This short book is full of insight and challenge,  using vaccinations and immunizations as metaphor. Stay tuned for a book review by this talented author who is also a Creative Writing teacher at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It was the impetus for me to write a piece on protection in the new year.

Travel Quote: This week’s travel quote comes from Maia Manchester who can be found on Twitter @doubleomoo and blogging The Unlost Wanderer. Maia is a TCK and a post that I love is called “We’re the same, but not” Thank you Maia! 

star-clusters wit quote

 

Wrapping up the Week – 7.20.13

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Readers  – there’s too much to share to keep silent this week. A heat wave in Boston has kept us indoors with ice, fans, and the occasional air conditioning. So there is time to read.

On Joy: This piece by Rachel Pieh Jones at She Loves Magazine will make you laugh and cry. I read while at a cubicle at work and my cubicle neighbors wondered what was going on. I then read it aloud at home and we all laughed and teared up. Here is a taste of this lovely ‘must read’ article:

“Who wants to pray?” Grandpa Pieh said.

“I will,” Lucy said. She kept her eyes open and took a deep breath. “Thank you, God, for Christmas. Thank you for my family and for this food. Thank you for Jesus. And now,” she sighed long and deep, “now, I will play a song for Jesus on my new harmonica.”

Her face was solemn, her eyes heavy. She ducked her head and slid the harmonica from her pocket. She cupped it, tenderly, with reverence. She inhaled and blew slow puffs. She swayed her head back and forth in time with the soulful notes. She put her shoulders and elbows into the music and I squeezed my eyes shut tight to keep from laughing or from springing tears.

Lucy stopped, looked around the table at each of us in turn. “Amen,” she whispered and slipped the harmonica back into the pocket of her blue jeans. ~ From God, Giver of Harmonicas in SheLoves Magazine

On vaccinations and drones: In 2011 the CIA ran a covert operation in Abbotabad, Pakistan disguised as a vaccination program. The long-term results have been disastrous for those who care about public health in Pakistan and set up vaccination programs. In particular the concern is polio and the 8th reported polio case this month because people are not getting vaccinated. The Taliban targets vaccination programs brutally and ruthlessly as foreign intervention designed to hurt Pakistanis, not help them. While I do not agree with everything in this article I believe it is an important piece, not least because I care about both Pakistan and public health. To date over 30 vaccination workers have been killed by the Taliban. You can read the article “Prescription Strike” here. And stay tuned for a blog post on this next week. An excerpt from the article:

“At a recent conference on “Polio eradication in the light of Islam” hosted by the International Islamic University, Islamabad, and designed to dispel anxiety over the vaccine, scholar Samiul Haq told the crowd, “People of Pakistan, especially in the KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] and tribal ­areas, assume that there must be some hidden interest of the West in the polio campaign because it is killing us through the drones and … giving us the vaccine on the pretext of eradicating polio.” ~ From Prescription Strike in The New Inquiry

On Faith: A few weeks ago I read an article in New York Magazine called “Saved” about Mariano Rivera. For 17 years he has been the Yankees ‘closer’. I’m not an athlete but I found out that means he is “the specialist who arrives in the ninth inning to protect a tight lead”. Evidently Rivera is top of his game, better than any one who’s ever played the game. But he’s so much more. His real love? God and his faith. Read “Saved” and be encouraged and challenged to love God with heart, soul, mind, and talent.

Favorite quote from the article: “Sportswriters often discount athletes’ religiosity as a sideshow…but the full story of Rivera’s career is unmistakably a story about faith. On the mound, Rivera is implacable, a warrior with the Buddha’s face. But talking about faith with Rivera is like opening a bottle; years of feeling come out. He speaks less like a theologian than like an enthusiastic believer, channeling all his considerable charisma, curiosity, and preternatural seriousness into the conveyance of passion. His is not a questioning faith but a conviction, invulnerable to attacks from skeptics and doubters, and so his answers to existentially vexing questions can sound to some uncomfortably neat. But Rivera isn’t worried about rationalist complaints because it is in certitude that he finds his strength.”

On Racism: I had to stop myself from reading things about the Martin/Zimmerman case this week. There were way too many words uttered from far too many sources. Instead I did some soul-searching and thought about how I contribute to our fallen world – it wasn’t a pretty picture. I would recommend this article by a woman who identifies as African-American. You may not agree with all of it but it will get you reaching deep into your own heart and soul. Here is a quote to bring you into the article Meet the Racists – you won’t be disappointed!

“We are not post-racist.  We will never be post-racist until every last one of us mugs is in heaven.  That is when all of us can kick up our holy feet on a giant global ottoman and rejoice that white and black Americans have finally reconciled.  But until then, I wouldn’t mind us ALL setting down our grandiose ideas that white Americans and black Americans are going to cease from racism.

I personally know of many blacks who hate whites, many whites who demean blacks, many Arabs who are repulsed by blacks, many blacks who want to kill Arabs, many Latinos who take issue with Asians, and on and on and on.  That’s just my Michigan peeps!  Of course, I need not go on when we expand it out globally.  The Hutu’s & the Tutsi’s still got beef.  There wouldn’t be wars in the Middle East if the Jews and Arabs were bosom buddies.

I hope we can all admit, (please God?!)  the entire globe is a big ball of racist mugs.  Pretty much, we hate each other.”~ From Meet the Racists in A Deeper Story

On my Bedside Stand: Let me tell you about my book! I am reading an epic journey called Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières. The setting is a small village in Anatolia at the end of the Ottoman empire and the characters are now my best friends. It is 700 pages of an excellent read. The perfect summer book. So if you want to have more best friends I urge you to pick up this book!

On the blog: We delved into anniversaries, roots, injustice, confessions, and my favorite – An Open Letter to a Young TCK.

Thanks for reading!

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