The Best-Selling Series by Beloved Catholic Teacher Bishop Kenneth Untener Continues for Lent 2023

February 27, 2023 by

As a longtime journalist covering religion in America, I reported on the launch of the late Catholic Bishop Ken Untener’s Little Black Book series for Lent of 2020.

At the time, no one had any idea that this simple concept would lead to millions of devotional books sold around the world, but I kept checking in with Ken’s project over the years and soon millions of the little books were circling the globe. To this day, Ken’s friends in the Diocese of Saginaw’s Little Books publishing house continue to roll out annual books, now via Kindle. If you check Amazon, there is not only this new 2023 Little Black Book for Lent on Kindle, but also editions for previous years.

I am thrilled to see this idea for special pocket-sized devotionals continuing to touch lives, so I’m reviewing the 2023 edition right away. Perhaps by adding a review, I might encourage more folks to pick up this year’s edition while Lent is still mostly ahead of us.

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

The team at Little Books continues to select pieces by Ken for each edition. Anyone who knew Ken’s life and work understood that he was all about concise storytelling and preaching. He was a pioneer in working with his priests, many years ago, in workshops on preaching to encourage them to more carefully plan their daily homilies and also to keep them tightly focused. So, the idea of these tiny texts springs from the heart of Ken’s wisdom about how to share the faith with others: Keep your message clearly focused.

In fact, Ken used to point out in his workshops: That’s how Jesus does it in the Gospels. One of the first meditations in this 2023 edition is an example of that: Jesus using the example of a child to explain how he wants his followers approach the world, in this case saying, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.”

Then, throughout Lent, Ken’s daily reflections celebrate Christian wisdom, customs, the saints and scripture.

For example, you’ll meet Blessed Rutilio Grande (and this short piece has been updated to include the fact that Grande was declared “Blessed” in 2022). You’ll meet Peter Benenson, the founder of Amnesty International, Australia’s singing nun Janet Mead, the American-born St. Katharine Drexel and more.

Although Ken died far too young in 2004 from a form of leukemia, his compelling teaching continues in many forms, including this remarkable best-selling series.

Give yourself a gift in this Lenten season and follow along with one of Ken’s little books.

 

Howard Brown’s second book is a chorus of 365 inspiring voices

January 23, 2023 by

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of Read the Spirit magazine

The message of Howard Brown’s memoir, Shining Brightly, comes across loud and clear in his contribution to a new global collection of 365 voices of hope and resiliency: The Art of Connection.

Howard was invited to contribute one of the year-long day-by-day readings for this volume, which debuted on Amazon this month.

In his contribution, Howard starts with advice that’s already well-known to readers of Shining Brightly:

We all get knocked down in work, family, and in life. The question for all of us is, “How do you get back up again?” As a stage IV cancer survivor, I have been knocked down to my core; emotionally, physically, financially, and in relationships. I have learned and now teach that cancer and life are team sports. You cannot and should not go it alone. Accept help from friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers.

To read more, click on the image above to visit the book’s Amazon page and order your own copy.

Or, check out the entire story in Shining Brightly.

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Care to learn more?

This is a perfect moment to become one of Howard’s growing global community of friends by ordering your copy of his book.

Here are other articles we have published, exploring the launch of this book:

Take a look at the book’s Foreword: ‘Shining Brightly’ Foreword by Dr. Robert J. Wicks: ‘Learn anew about the American Dream’

And especially read this story: Two-time cancer survivor Howard Brown writes ‘Shining Brightly’ to encourage others to stay healthy

Free Resource Guides

Download (and free-to-share) resource guides for discussing Shining Brightly:

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Howard Brown’s New Year’s Resolution: Kicking cancer is a team sport, so let’s all get involved.

December 17, 2022 by

 

 

IF WE ALL WORK TOGETHER, kicking cancer ‘Is in the bag!’

By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly

As New Year’s Day approaches, my resolution is to redouble my efforts to spread the message: Cancer is a team sport—so let’s all get involved!

That’s a major theme of my memoir Shining Brightly, and I’ve been sharing that message at conferences, through podcasts and in weekly columns we’ve published nationwide.

I’m not alone in spreading this life-saving message. Recent reports are confirming that the COVID pandemic has led far too many Americans to skip routine cancer screening. For example, we all were surprised when Katie Couric—co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer—announced in an online post that she had skipped a routine mammogram with potentially dire results. When she finally had her overdue scan, doctors found cancer—which was treated right away.

Each week brings new headlines. Right now, we’re all praying for a successful outcome for the National Cancer Institute’s Monica M. Bertagnolli after her diagnosis with breast cancer.

The evidence is overwhelming that screening helps. Just one example: TIME recently reported on the critical link between screening and successful outcomes for lung cancer.

In 2023, resolve to ‘Be the Match’

Beyond screening, we need more people nationwide to volunteer as potential bone marrow donors. One way is to check out Be the Match. As you can see from the “bag” at the top of this column, a bone marrow transplant from my twin sister saved my life in 1990.

And, consider giving to The Dana-Farber Jimmy Fund

TODAY, I’m also starting a donor page for the Dana-Farber Jimmy Fund.

Here’s the donor page if you’d like to help this effort, started in 1948, which has saved “countless lives and reduced the burden of cancer for patients and families worldwide.”

Why am I so thankful to Dana-Farber?

The Dana-Farber team saved my life the first time I faced death from very aggressive stage IV cancer.

To read that dramatic story, visit the Dana-Farber website to read Early Stem Cell Transplant Recipient Says Success Was ‘In the Bag’

I’m honored that Dana-Farber is using my story in this way to prompt others to jump into the struggle with cancer that inevitably will affect someone you love, perhaps yourself, in 2023.

Since that Dana-Farber story was posted earlier this month, it has been shared far and wide across social media by countless individuals and groups. I was thankful to find that my alma mater, Babson College, shared the story across its social media.

Please: Make kicking cancer one of your own 2023 New Year’s Resolutions.

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Care to learn more?

This is a perfect moment to become one of Howard’s growing global community of friends by ordering your copy of his book.

Here are other articles we have published, exploring the launch of this book:

Take a look at the book’s Foreword: ‘Shining Brightly’ Foreword by Dr. Robert J. Wicks: ‘Learn anew about the American Dream’

And especially read this story: Two-time cancer survivor Howard Brown writes ‘Shining Brightly’ to encourage others to stay healthy

A Free Resource Guide

If you’re among the millions of Americans facing cancer, you’ll want to download a free-to-share resource guide from Shining Brightly:

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Your healthiest New Year’s Resolution? Get Screened for cancer!

December 5, 2022 by

COVID-19 caused many Americans to fall behind on screenings.
Getting back on track with regular screenings is essential
to finding cancer early and taking control of your health.
A message from Cancer Screen Week.

By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly

COVID knocked us all off schedule! That’s the nationwide consensus of healthcare providers. All of us need to share the news:

Cancer screening is your healthiest New Year’s resolution!

You can remind others simply by sharing a link to this column with friends and family via social media or email. See those social media sharing buttons at the top of this column? It’s so easy to spread this news.

We all can use this reminder, as a nation. That’s especially true of Americans from our all-too-often underserved minority communities.

If you really understand this challenge—perhaps your family already has struggled with cancer—then you’ll want to take a look at this amazing set of Resources provided for all of us for this year’s Cancer Screen Week. That page has colorful charts, posters and other social-media friendly resources you can share—including some options that highlight stories from minority communities.

As I’ve told the world in my memoir, Shining Brightly, a regular cancer screening saved my life. In fact, I wish I’d gotten around to asking for that screening years earlier. If I had scheduled that test just a few years earlier than I did, my struggle through surgeries and other agonizing treatments might have been avoided. Doctors might have found easily removable tissue, rather than the large tumor they spotted that led to years of treatments and a slow recovery.

Saving a life this way is sooo easy!

Just take a moment and check with your health-care provider. Today, there are easy ways to get screened, so don’t be afraid. After all: You want to enjoy the year-end holidays in 2023 with your loved ones, don’t you?

My New Year’s Resolution is to convince as many people as possible to get back on track with the regular screenings our doctors recommend.

And just maybe, if I’m good at my job as Cancer Screen Week’s Colorectal Cancer Ambassador, this year, I just might save a life or two.

And that will truly ensure a Happy New Year for countless friends and loved ones.

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Care to learn more?

This is a perfect moment to become one of Howard’s growing global community of friends by ordering your copy of his book.

Here are other articles we have published, exploring the launch of this book:

Take a look at the book’s Foreword: ‘Shining Brightly’ Foreword by Dr. Robert J. Wicks: ‘Learn anew about the American Dream’

And especially read this story: Two-time cancer survivor Howard Brown writes ‘Shining Brightly’ to encourage others to stay healthy

A Free Resource Guide

If you’re among the millions of Americans facing cancer, you’ll want to download a free-to-share resource guide from Shining Brightly:

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What am I thankful for this year? Millions of families like ours that don’t let disability keep anyone from the Thanksgiving table

November 19, 2022 by

What’s on your Thanksgiving To Do list?

Don’t forget the wheelchair!

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By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly

Like most of you, we are checking off our family’s Thanksgiving To Do list:

  • Turkey
  • Stuffing
  • Green bean casserole
  • Salad
  • Pies
  • Brisket (yes, for us that’s a tradition)
  • And, of course, the wheelchair, which I’ll need to pick up Mom from the airport

That last item is on the lists of millions of American families this week—and thank God for that! Our families are not allowing disability to keep loved ones from the traditional feast, surrounded by the warmth of family and friends.

How many American families are affected?

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 13.7 percent of Americans have difficulty walking or climbing stairs—and 2 out of every 5 adults age 65 or older have some form of disability. (The CDC information is presented as a free “printable” graphic if you’re looking for something to share with friends to increase awareness of disability.)

And, then, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports:

More than 25 million Americans age 5 and older have self-reported travel-limiting disabilities. 13.4 million are age 18 to 64 and 11.2 million are age 65 and older. And, 3.6 million Americans with travel-limiting disabilities do not leave their homes because they are disabled or housebound.

Does that last number break your heart? That image of 3.6 million Americans staying home at the holidays because they can’t manage to travel certainly inspires me to continue our annual odyssey of helping my Mom—the matriarch of our family—safely reach our Thanksgiving table in Michigan.

Mom’s Odyssey Will Be Like Millions of Others This Week

Mom—or Bubby to her grandkids—is 76 this year. She’s a high-energy matriarch who is as determined to reach our Thanksgiving gathering as we are to help her join us.

Our story is familiar to many readers. It starts with her overall condition: She’s had joint replacement surgery; she had a slip and fall; she snapped a bone; she hurt her back; she needs another joint replacement. Bottom line: She’s in pain, even when sitting—but she’s in even more pain when standing or trying to walk. She can take steps with a cane or walker, but she needs a wheelchair for longer distances.

So, to reach our Thanksgiving gathering at my twin sister CJ’s house, this year, she and Dad will leave their Massachusetts home and drive to the parking lot where they can catch an express bus to Boston’s Logan airport. That means Dad has to help Mom safely get out of the house and get settled in the car. Then, before parking at the lot, he lets her get out near a bench at the bus stop. He parks the car and walks back to her bench. Then, he helps her climb the steps onto the bus, when it arrives.

The bus drops her near another bench outside Logan, where she sits while Dad goes into the airport and finds someone with a wheelchair to come get Mom and wheel her through the airport to their gate. Then, an airline staffer wheels her onto the plane and helps her into her seat.

When they reach Detroit’s Metro airport, all of that long process is reversed—until they reach the baggage-claim area where I’m waiting with our wheelchair. Then, I push her out to our car, so I can drive them the rest of the way to Thanksgiving.

The whole journey is painful for her, but she’s a tough cookie who would never think of staying home—as long as a few caring people along the way can help her with wheelchairs through those otherwise almost impossible stretches.  In this family—and with some gracious assistance from the airport staffs—we’re happy to help.

But, you know what? That’s not all!

So, Mom has reached the Thanksgiving table and—whew!—we’re done!

Think that’s all?

Hardly! If you’ve got a disabled loved one in your family circle, of course you want them to fully participate in the holiday feasts. But there’s always more to a holiday than a meal.

What comes next for Mom and the four now-college-age grandkids in our family? Like millions of other Americans, it’s hitting the Black Friday sales after Thanksgiving. Mom absolutely loves to treat her grandkids to new clothes. So, they help her into the car, then they wheel her chair into the stores near the fitting rooms—so she can express herself as they select something new to wear.

Does all of this take extra effort? Sure. Is she shouldering a little more pain with the bumps and movements back and forth into the wheelchair and through these jam-packed stores? Sure.

But—she absolutely loves the Black Friday tradition. She wouldn’t miss it as long as she’s still breathing. And we would never enjoy the whole holiday weekend as much without her.

Learn something new this year: How to Safely Make a Wheelchair Transfer

Let me leave you with one final helpful tip: Learn how to safely make a wheelchair transfer. Families who regularly use wheelchairs know this by heart, but folks who volunteer to help only on special occasions like Thanksgiving might not know this.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides this very helpful, printable guide to making A Wheelchair Transfer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know we will—because Mom’s at the table with us!

Mom with me and my twin sister CJ at an earlier family gathering when standing wasn’t such a challenge.

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Care to learn more?

This is a perfect moment to become one of Howard’s growing global community of friends by ordering your copy of his book.

Here are other articles we have published, exploring the launch of this book:

Take a look at the book’s Foreword: ‘Shining Brightly’ Foreword by Dr. Robert J. Wicks: ‘Learn anew about the American Dream’

And, are you intrigued by that cover? Check out: Thanks to artist Rick Nease, our book covers keep ‘Shining Brightly’

Want a personalized copy of Howard’s book? Howard Brown helps readers personalize their gifts. (Get yours now.)

Babson College shares the news, because this book includes so many inspiring stories about the college’s unique approach to teaching entrepreneurship.

An inspiring story to share: Howard Brown shows us the power of mentors to pay it forward, generation to generation 

Don’t miss: Howard Brown ‘Shining Brightly’—The Surprising Joy of Sharing Hope Each Day

And you’ll definitely want to see this video: Howard Brown appears on ABC 15 in Phoenix on Nim Stant’s Go All In.

Download (and free-to-share) resource guides for discussing Shining Brightly:

What can these three lists inspire in our lives?

You’ll find lots of ideas you can use! Here’s one example from Detroit, where friends gathered to plant trees in honor of a friend.

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Help our families and friends honor National Caregivers Month

November 6, 2022 by

Choose one of these books as a gift for the tireless caregiver in your life

(Depending on your digital device, the recommended books will appear at left—or below.)

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MOST AMERICANS either have served as caregivers—or know a caregiver currently serving as an unpaid lifeline for a loved one. That’s why Americans mark November, each year, as National Family Caregivers Month—as a time for all of us collectively to say: Thank You!

In his annual proclamation of this special month, President Biden wrote, in part:

The truth is, at some point in our lives, each of us will likely need to be a family caregiver—but the burden falls especially hard on those who cannot afford support. Women, people of color, and immigrants shoulder a disproportionate share of the obligation, sometimes forced to leave good jobs to instead provide care. Their work is a profound service to their families and to our Nation, but they are still too often unseen, undervalued, and unpaid. 

Care to learn more?

The U.S. Census Bureau offers the latest data on caregiving for writers, journalists, activists and community leaders who are planning to reach out on behalf of caregivers this month.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) provides more information, plus free-to-share graphics for use in social media. Want to mark the month in your own email messages, social media or newsletters? You’ll find lots to share from ACL.

Choose the gift of reading

Since the founding of our publishing house in 2015, we have been publishing a wide array of books that inspire caregivers. Some books provide practical help; others are fun and uplifting; and all of these books reassure caregivers about the value of their hard work. Please look at the books featured with this column—either at the left or below, depending on the device you are using to read this column.

Click on any of those covers to visit their Amazon pages.

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‘Shining Brightly’—Let’s get out there, join with friends and make our world a little greener!

October 27, 2022 by

Babson College alumni and friends from Michigan gathered for a Day of Service in Detroit, planting trees through the Greening of Detroit nonprofit.

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Making memories every day!

I live every day as an affirmation of my own resilience—something I take very seriously after two near-fatal bouts with cancer—and as an opportunity to give back gratefully to my community and our larger world.

There are lots and lots of ways you can do this from simply mowing the lawn of a neighbor who’s having trouble getting around—to organizing larger efforts with friends.

Recently, I coordinated a special tree-planting day in Detroit for some Michigan members of the Babson College alumni association. Every year, we commit ourselves to at least one Day of Service. This time, we wanted to honor Ellen S. Solomita, a 1989 Babson graduate and long-time friend who died last year. We all knew she would love to know that trees were planted as part of her legacy.

In doing so, I drew on at least 4 of the “Keys to Resilience When Confronting Cancer,” a part of the discussion guide to my memoir Shining Brightly:

  • Do not isolate yourself. We all need the help of others.
  • Keep moving, stay active and exercise.
  • Volunteer / mentor (Lifting-up others will lift yourself as well!).
  • Keep making memories with family and friends.

Want to see what we did?

Enjoy this mini-gallery of images.

Karen Dietz, class of ’09, brought her 2-year-old son NJ, who we are sure will one day help to lead the class of ’38.

Acheampong “Nicholas” Johnson, MBA ’22, showed us all how to swing an old-fashioned adze.

Here we are getting one of the trees ready to plant. My long-time friend Alan Bakst, who you’ll read about in my book, is to my right.

This kind of community service FEELS SO GOOD!!!

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Want to see my entire list of “Keys to Resiliency When Confronting Cancer?” 

Take a look at the following links, a list that includes a free-to-share PDF of those keys to resiliency.

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Care to learn more?

This is a perfect moment to become one of Howard’s growing global community of friends by ordering your copy of his book.

Here are other articles we have published, exploring the launch of this book:

Take a look at the book’s Foreword: ‘Shining Brightly’ Foreword by Dr. Robert J. Wicks: ‘Learn anew about the American Dream’

Want a snack as you read? Howard Brown and Jennifer Bass: Shining Brightly 1 cookie at a time

Want a personalized copy of Howard’s book? Howard Brown helps readers personalize their gifts. (Get yours now.)

Babson College shares the news, because this book includes so many inspiring stories about the college’s unique approach to teaching entrepreneurship.

An inspiring story to share: Howard Brown shows us the power of mentors to pay it forward, generation to generation 

And don’t miss: Howard Brown ‘Shining Brightly’—The Surprising Joy of Sharing Hope Each Day

Free Resource Guides

Download (and free-to-share) resource guides for discussing Shining Brightly:

What can these three lists inspire in our lives?

You’ll find lots of ideas you can use!

Here’s one example from Detroit, where friends gathered to plant trees in honor of a friend.

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