Everything I Promised
Mothering Spirit launches in 1 week & I've got jury duty, so this one’s short & sweet!
Speaking of school
Here’s a prayer for the new school year and a prayer for families in Ordinary Time.
Kids leaving home this fall? Read this with Kleenex in hand: I was the sun, and they were the planets by Beverly Beckham at the Boston Globe (re-run every August).
If you’d like to help teachers or parents as the new school year starts, check out our Clear The List effort on Mothering Spirit. Mutual aid is a joy:
We want to help you “clear your list” of the everyday goods you need to do the holy labor God has called you to do.
The vision and hope of Mothering Spirit is to support each other as we care for God’s children. We can’t do everything, but we can each do something. Let’s start today. Read more here.
For further reflection
“When the seismic shifts unseat us, it’s the ordinary that puts us back together again,” from Brian Bantum at The Christian Century.
A tribute to Frederick Buechner and the power of books by Russell Moore at Christianity Today.
How a deaf priest is changing the way the church ministers to the deaf community, from Pamela Hill Nettleton at U.S. Catholic.
A poem on marriage and mortality: “To Hold” by Li-Young Lee.
The sound of grief by Kimberly Knowle-Zeller at Coffee + Crumbs.
For your reading
Here’s a round-up of books I’ve recently shared on Instagram, so you’ve got all the links in one place:
Mama: A World of Mothers and Motherhood by Hélène Delforge and Quentin Gréban
The Story of Us by Mitali Perkins and Kevin & Kristin Howdeshell
God’s Holy Darkness by Sharei Green, Beckah Selnick, and Nikki Faison
The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese by Haley Stewart
Soul Care to Save Your Life by Manda Carpenter
Feminist Prayers for My Daughter by Shannon K. Evans
I’d love to know what you’re reading & loving lately? Leave a comment & let us know.
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Find my books here: Everyday Sacrament | Grieving Together | Prayers for Pregnancy & Birth | To Bless Our Callings | Living Your Discipleship
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Oh, so many books I love lately. Brief list - The Vanderbeekers series by Karina Yan Glaser. Truly delightful middle grade novels about the adventures of a family of 5 kids, their parents, and their pets in an NYC brownstone. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - story about a story and how it is passed from person to person, and what it means to each of them. No one does multiple-thread storytelling like Doerr, I liked this one even better than All The Light We Cannot See. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich - a bookseller is haunted by the ghost of a past customer. Set in Minneapolis from November 2019 to November 2020, it was amazing to read about events I remember (early COVID lockdowns, the murder of George Floyd) in a place I know and love through the lens of fiction. Finally, I read Klara and the Sun with Joy Clarkson's Patreon book club and that was good, but it made me seek out and read Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, which was stunning. It was Austen-esque in its attention to detail, complex characters, and paced reveal of the storyline, and I can pay no higher compliment. Good luck with all your projects and jury duty Laura, I'm cheering for you!
What books would you recommend on the topic of grief? I am taking a social work class on Loss and Grief at a secular university and I want to do some parallel reading from the perspective of the Church. I'm planning on Making Sense of Suffering by Peter Kreeft but would love other recommendations.