Dear Members and Friends,
Juneteenth is the “longest-running African-American holiday,” according to Gladys Knight in the Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. It is a celebration of the vision of freedom for the descendants of all Black Americans, but it celebrates the day that many slaves in Texas learned about the Emancipation Proclamation—two and a half years after it had been signed into law. The challenge was that slavery was an institution very difficult to end. In the eyes of the law, everyone had been free, and that reality finally reached a part of the country where slavery had continued—and the emotional outburst of joy and hope was inspiring.
In honor of Juneteenth, I’m adding to my summer reading list a sobering look at the legacy of the Civil War by Heather Cox Richardson: How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America.
I have several other books on my summer reading list as well. I just ordered To Know Another by David Brooks. I love the sub-title: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. I’m pleased that the Chaplains decided to choose a specific book to read together—and I think their choice is a wonderful one. Want to join us in this reading?
The Social Justice Council chose for their common read, Seeds of Justice: Organizing Your Church to Transform the World by Alex Wiesendanger. Alex trained me in faith-based organizing, and I’m delighted to be re-reading this book for those with a passion for faith-based organizing and developing relational networks to move powerfully in the wider community. Consider joining us in this reading!
I’m nearly finished with Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. My son was assigned this book in his English literature class. When he told me a couple things about it, I took his copy. I’ve always loved Trevor Noah, but I had no idea what a challenging childhood he had in South Africa where he was literally “born a crime.” It is a fun, poignant, horrifying, and deeply inspiring read.
Earlier this year, Gail Howard gifted me with her memoir, White Wife/Blue Baby, an account of her heartbreaking journey while living in Oak Park and Chicago through abuse, poverty, and racism. It is a hard but important read about finding one’s own voice after suffering through a lot
I know a lot of you love poetry. My favorite three anthologies are:
Cries of the Spirit: Celebration of Women’s Spirituality edited by Marilyn Sewell,
Claiming the Spirit Within: A Sourcebook for Women’s Poetry, edited by Marilyn Sewell
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men, edited by Robert Bly, James Hillman, and Michael Meade.
Are there any other books that groups within the congregation are reading together? Any novels? Any other books that you would highly, highly recommend?
May this summer provide you with some time for reading and reflection. I leave you with three poems recognizing Juneteenth and the onset of summer.
Warmly,
Alan
“To Sit and Dream” by Langston Hughes
To sit and dream, to sit and read,
To sit and learn about the world
Outside our world of here and now–
Our problem world–
To dream of vast horizons of the soul
Through dreams made whole,
Unfettered, free–help me!
All you who are dreamers, too,
Help me to make
Our world anew.
I reach out my dreams to you.
“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes
Let America be America again
Let it be the dream it used to be
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free
(America never was America to me.)
“The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
