J
“I'm still convinced that nonviolence is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create more social problems than they will solve, that in a real sense, it is impractical [...]to even think of mounting a violent revolution in the United States. So I will continue to condemn riots and continue to say to my [siblings] that this is not the way. Continue to affirm that there is another way.
But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities, as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. And in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of [Black poor people] has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. So in a real sense, our nation's summer's riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.“
Link to transcript of speech
“Left social movements have two big jobs right now. First, we need to organize to help people survive the devastating conditions unfolding every day. Second, we need to mobilize hundreds of millions of people for resistance so we can tackle the underlying causes of these crises.”
“This book provides a concrete guide for building mutual aid groups and networks. Part I explores what mutual aid is, why it is different than charity, and how it relates to other social movement tactics. Part II dives into the nitty-gritty of how to work together in mutual aid groups and how to handle the challenges of group decision-making, conflict, and burnout...Ultimately, helps imagine how we can coordinate to collectively take care of ourselves—even in the face of disaster—and mobilize hundreds of millions of people to make deep and lasting change.”
“Mutual aid is collective coordination to meet each other's needs, usually from an awareness that the systems we have in place are not going to meet them.”
Pastor Kathy Escobar's short devotional is sure to be a balm to many a weary soul. I only wished it was longer. Kathy's pastoral heart shines through even as she is speaking from her own deep grief and pain in losing one of her children to death by suicide.
If your grief and sorrow feel like too much, I think you will find at least a little comfort as you read this book.
The book has 28 daily reflections with prayers and suggested practices to honor our pain and struggles during the holiday season. This might be a good devotional for small group studies also.
I will definitely be coming back to this one again.
I read this book for a graduate course on Native American Religion. Deloria spends a lot of time criticizing a specific kind of Christianity (Oral Roberts/Jerry Falwell Evangelicalism), assuming that is representative of all Christianity. So while I agree with his criticisms of that kind of theology, I was frustrated with his lack of awareness of liberation theologies, queer theologies, etc.
I agree with this review of the book. That review points out something we talked about in my class about the bizarre diversion of Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision and theories about Venus being a comet and Venus and Mars ping-ponging around the solar system to produce many of the ancient accounts of miracles.
God is Red was originally published in 1972, so much of it is outdated now. In 2003 a third edition was published which added a couple of new chapters but didn't fix the problems.
As others have pointed out, the arguments are long and circular, often veering into irrelevant or inaccurate ideas.
Ó Tuama offers spiritual wisdom, blending prayers, poetry, and essays inviting readers to pause and reflect on their daily lives. Ó Tuama reflects a deep understanding of the human experience. The book's structure provides a framework for contemplation and growth, encouraging readers to engage with the text and the world around them in meaningful ways. Each page is imbued with Ó Tuama's compassionate voice, guiding readers through a journey of self-discovery and connection.
Whether you are well-versed in spiritual practices or new to the concept of prayer, “Being Here” is accessible, enlightening, and deeply moving. It's a book that doesn't just sit on a shelf; it lives in the hands and hearts of those who read it, becoming a daily companion in the quest for a more thoughtful and just existence. In a world that often feels fragmented and chaotic, Ó Tuama's words are a balm, offering a vision of hope and unity that is both refreshing and necessary. This book is more than a collection of texts; it's an invitation to live more fully, to embrace the complexity of life with curiosity and love. It's a call to be present in the moment, to recognize the sacred in the ordinary, and to find joy in the act of being truly here.
Quotes:
“The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around.”
“When we are in a moment of courage – whether we call that God's voice, or indigenous bravery – it is the body that tells us a deep truth; it is the body that speaks to us, and it is from the body that the courage comes.”
This book is a profound collection reflecting the depth and insight of Bruggeman's biblical scholarship applied to contemporary situations. The prayers within this collection are crafted with a prophetic edge, challenging the comfortable while drawing the reader into a deeper engagement with the divine. Timothy Beal's foreword and Brueggemann's preface provide insightful contexts that enrich the reader's understanding of the prayers' origins and intentions. This volume is more than a book of prayers; it is a call to action, an invitation to participate in the transformative work of justice. It is a valuable resource for public worship and private devotion, offering guidance and inspiration for those committed to justice and the prophetic tradition. These prayers can also transcend their original context and speak to the universal human condition, making this collection a significant contribution to spiritual literature and a compelling read for anyone seeking to deepen their practice of prayer and reflection on justice.
Harry Lee Poe delves into the period between the end of World War I and the beginning of Lewis's tenure at Oxford, painting a vivid picture of his journey from staunch atheism to becoming a powerful voice for Christianity. The book is praised for its fast-paced narrative, particularly during wartime, highlighting Lewis's intense work and the development of his spiritual and intellectual life.
Readers are transported to 1940s Oxford and given a front-row seat to the collision of Lewis's past and present, which forged his future as a brilliant Christian thinker. Poe's meticulous research and analysis offer a fresh perspective on Lewis's friendships with other notable Christians, such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy L. Sayers, and his gradual transformation from an opponent to a defender of the faith. This insightful account is not just a recounting of historical events; it's an invitation to understand the profound changes in Lewis's life and how they shaped his writing and apologetics. The book has garnered high praise and is recommended for anyone interested in C.S. Lewis's life, his writings, or the broader themes of skepticism and faith.
Quotes from the conclusion of the book:
“Establishing the colonial nature of the conflict has proven exceedingly hard given the biblical dimension of Zionism, which casts the new arrivals as indigenous and as the historic proprietors of the land they colonized. In this light, the original population of Palestine appears extraneous to the post-Holocaust resurgence of a Jewish nation-state with its roots in the kingdom of David and Solomon: they are no more than undesirable interlopers in this uplifting scenario. Challenging this epic myth is especially difficult in the United States, which is steeped in an evangelical Protestantism that makes it particularly susceptible to such an evocative Bible-based appeal and which also prides itself on its colonial past. The word “colonial” has a valence in the United States that is deeply different from its associations in the former European imperial metropoles and the countries that were once part of their empires.”
“Similarly, the terms “settler” and “pioneer” have positive connotations in American history, arising from the heroic tale of the conquest of the West at the expense of its indigenous population as projected in movies, literature, and television. Indeed, there are striking parallels between these portrayals of the resistance of Native Americans to their dispossession and that of the Palestinians. Both groups are cast as backward and uncivilized, a violent, murderous, and irrational obstacle to progress and modernity. While many Americans have begun to contest this strand of their national narrative, Israeli society and its supporters still celebrate—indeed, depend on—its foundational version. Moreover, comparisons between Palestine and the Native American or African American experiences are fraught because the United States has yet to fully acknowledge these dark chapters of its past or to address their toxic effects in the present. There is still a long way to go to change Americans' consciousness of their nation's history, let alone that of Palestine and Israel, in which the United States has played such a supportive role.”
“the Zionist movement was almost always on the offensive in its effort to achieve mastery over an Arab land. [...] In reality, the Zionist movement and then the state of Israel always had the big battalions on their side, whether this was the British army before 1939, US and Soviet support in 1947–48, France and Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, or the situation from the 1970s until today, where besides receiving unlimited US support, Israel's armed might dwarfs that of the Palestinians, and indeed that of all the Arabs put together.”
“That inequality is the central moral question posed by Zionism, and that it goes to the root of the legitimacy of the entire enterprise is a view that is shared by some distinguished Israelis. Imagining scholars looking back one hundred years from now, historian Zeev Sternhell asked,
“When exactly did the Israelis understand that their cruelty towards the non-Jews in their grip in the Occupied Territories, their determination to break the Palestinians' hopes for independence, or their refusal to offer asylum to African refugees began to undermine the moral legitimacy of their national existence?”
review in progress...
Four of the nine stories were previously published, the other five were new for this book.
I loved these short stories in this collection:
1: MIDNIGHTS - very sweet “friends to romance” story, previously published in My True Love Gave to Me (2014)
2. KINDRED SPIRITS features a small group of hardcore Star Wars nerds waiting in line for the first sequel “Winter Songs for Summer,” mix CD throwbacks, cute little story. Previously published as a stand-alone in 2016.
4: THE SNOW BALL
9. IN WAITING - I really loved this one!
I liked:
3: WINTER SONGS FOR SUMMER
5: IF THE FATES ALLOW - I had previously listened to this one through Amazon Prime in 2021, so I think I liked it a little more the first time. It's still cute but also, I don't really need to relive the 2020-2021 Pandemic era... and even though I remember really enjoying Fangirl and Reagan is a character from that novel, it's been long enough since I read Fangirl that I don't remember her at all.
7: MIXED MESSAGES (an Attachments spinoff story, which I haven't read) - I wasn't super into this one but I do like that the characters are in their forties, and the very end of it was really sweet.
8: SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS - another reviewer described this as “Baz and Simon (who are a vampire and ... a dragon-man, I think? and the subjects of a trilogy) in the Harry Potter-meets Twilight-meets Heartstopper” which is too perfect =)
meh
6: THE PRINCE AND THE TROLL
Favorite parts:
“Hold hard this infirmity.
It defines you. You are old.
Now fix yourself in summer,
In thickets of ripe berries,
And venture toward the ridge
Where you were born. Await there
The setting sun. Be alive
To that old conflagration
One more time. Mortality
Is your shadow and your shade.
Translate yourself to spirit;
Be present on your journey.
Keep to the trees and waters.
Be the singing of the soil.”
“The story is very important, for it relates us to the stars. It is a bridge between the earth and the heavens. There is no earth without the sun and moon. There is no earth without the stars. When we die, Dragonfly says, we go to the farther camps. Death is not the end of life. There is life in the farther camps. The stars are fires in the farther camps.
In the making of my song There is a crystal wind And the burnished dark of dusk There is the memory of elders dancing In firelight at Two Meadows Where the reeds whisper I sing and there is gladness in itAnd laughter like the play of spinning leavesI sing and I am gone from sorrowTo the farther camps”
That last bit made me think of “farther up and further in!” (From The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis)
“I felt a terrifying collapse inside me. I had a single, set idea, like a hammered nail, that I could never be reconciled to anything, so long as the tears of a weeping child still glistened as he walked along with his mother, who furiously fought back her soundless tears, on his way into exile, bearing with him a roar of injustice and such a scream that—it was impossible that no one in the world would gather that scream in when the moment came—and then I said to Moishe: “We have no right, Moishe, to kick them out of here!”
