Benjamin Pratt: The Brass Communion Rail

July 15, 2012 by

Ale and evangelism!
For millions of Christians, they go together like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. After all, Lewis and Tolkien were ringleaders of the Inklings, who famously haunted the Eagle and Child (the pub in Oxford shown in today’s two photos) along with Charles Williams, Hugo Dyson and sometimes other writers and scholars. Eventually, the friends were gathering to read aloud and discuss their works most Mondays and Tuesdays in a room of the pub still known as the Rabbit Room.

Not long ago, we passed the 30th anniversary of Theology on Tap—the very popular American Catholic version of pairing pints with preaching. That particular American format has flowed back across the oceans East and West to a dozen other countries’ public houses. Countless Catholics have partaken since the early 1980s in conversations led by priests—as well as some of the church’s leading lights. The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin enjoyed Theology on Tap. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington D.C. since 2006, once showed up to try his first evening teaching at a pub and received a huge round of applause.
“That’s the warmest welcome I’ve ever received in a pub,” Wuerl told the patrons. Then he smiled, and added, “That’s the first welcome I’ve ever received in a pub!”

Dr. Benjamin Pratt, author of Guide for Caregivers and the James Bond Bible-study book called Ian Fleming’s Seven Deadlier Sins reports that he is not personally a regular at brass rails. However, he does occasionally enjoy a good pint, and he recognizes the long-standing tensions between secular and sacred communion rails in many communities around the world. For those bridging the gap in the rails, he offers this prose-poem—a prayerful meditation he invites you to reflect upon and share with friends.

He calls it simply:

The Brass Communion Rail

By the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Pratt

Ever present Lord,
I was sitting on a bar stool
At the local Sports Bar,
My feet on the brass rail,
Having a Guinness and a burger.
Keeping an eye on the game,
I opened my laptop,
Taking notes for an upcoming sermon.

Three young men approached—
Teased me about drinking black, bitter mud.
I said, “Guinness is Gaelic for ‘genius’!
I’m hoping to be one
Since I’m trying to write a sermon.”
We laughed.

They teased me some more:
“Your team’s losing Pastor!”

I loved those guys right away.

They kept me laughing and finally said,
“Maybe we’ll see you Sunday, Pastor!
Hope the Guinness works,
But if it doesn’t—
A fiver says your Heart and Faith will!”
They were off, their laughter ringing.

Back at my pint and portable,
Sipping and tapping notes,
I noticed a man a few stools over—arise.
He shuffled my way,
“Excuse me, did I hear those guys call you Pastor?”

“You did!”

“I’m surprised to meet a Pastor drinking in a Sports Bar,
But maybe things have changed!
I haven’t been in a church since …
Well, the truth is: I left! They made me so mad!
I couldn’t or wouldn’t ever live up to their standards of perfection.
Hypocrites! They didn’t live up to them either.
I knew what they did when they weren’t at church.”

“You still have a lot of sadness about that,” I said.

“I thought I was only angry, but—
Maybe I am sad about how it all worked out.”

“You wouldn’t have spoken to me if you were only angry.”

“Where’s your church, Pastor?”

“Lots of places. Sunday mornings on Elm Street.
More often in hospital rooms, funeral parlors, gardens, offices, the jail,
Or at this Brass Communion Rail.
Looks to me like you’ve already joined us.
Welcome!”

He sat again.
This time on the stool next to me.

My silent prayer:
Ever-present Lord,
Bless us to know that our
Brass Communion Rail
Is where we join You in tending bar,
Bringing grace to anyone in need.

Amen

CARE FOR MORE FROM BENJAMIN PRATT?

There are links to Dr. Pratt’s two books, above. If you’re looking for fresh ideas to use in your congregation, we can report: A growing number of congregations nationwide are forming small groups to discuss the spiritual support of America’s 65 million caregivers. Ben’s book is a great guide in that process. Plus, this autumn is the 50th anniversary of James Bond movies—so Ben’s Bond Bible study book is a timely choice for a fall series. This meditation, The Brass Communion Rail, is posted jointly into ReadTheSpirit and the website for Day1, the nationwide radio network. If you are active in your congregation, click on that Day1 link and bookmark Ben’s section of that website. Each month, Ben posts another resource you’ll enjoy—and want to share with friends. He welcomes you to share these words.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson … makes peace

July 14, 2012 by

Click the book’s cover to visit its Amazon page.We love violence!
Come on! Be honest, now! We absolutely love murder, explosions and fights with all manner of weapons and super powers. After all, our biggest Hollywood blockbusters celebrate superheroes. Cop shows dominate prime time. Murder mysteries have all but swallowed up the best-seller lists for adult fiction. And Young Adult best sellers? Now you’re looking at the ultra-violent Hunger Games, the Twilight Saga and all manner of mayhem.

But, stop and think for just a moment about a child you love. Perhaps your own. Perhaps a grandchild. Perhaps a child you teach in pre-school or Sunday school. What stories do you want to lovingly share with them?

At ReadTheSpirit, our readers always thank us for spotting picture-book treasures like the Mouse and Bear series or Bob Graham’s startling A Bus Called Heaven or Ted Kooser’s haunting A House Held Up by Trees. We all know that these books are as much for the delight of the adults who buy them as they are for the children who first hear someone read the text. With repeat readings, these picture books can become a beloved part of an adult’s life story. As Editor of ReadTheSpirit, I’ve been a tough-minded journalist all my life, but the most precious corner of my extensive library is the little shelf holding a dozen dog-eared picture books published in the 1950s.

King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson knits together all of these threads: an echo of the stirring tales of brave knights and magical challenges, a gorgeously illustrated picture book format and a surprisingly peaceful message that families can share through the years.

What is the message? I don’t think it’s spoiling this short tale to say that the heavily armed young knight in this story charges into one life-changing surprise after another. He confronts some of the world’s greatest demons: a “terrible Dragon” (there are also many friendly dragons in world literature), “the dreaded Cyclops” (taking us all the way back to Greek epics), a “grim Griffin” (complete with twisted claws perfect for slaughtering its prey), and even “Leviathan” (who the Bible calls “the coiling serpent,” “the monster of the sea” and a creature so fearsome that anyone who wakes the beast will surely curse his fate forever.)

Horrors!!! Shudder!!! One can feel the reader of this book pitching the voice deeper and drawing out the lines in ominous suspense. The pages flip ever so slowly. Will blood spill? Will our hero survive? Instead, our young knight discovers quite the opposite of violence in some creatively twisted encounters.

Perhaps there’s something in our origins that moves an author and artist like Kraegel to craft a book like this—and me, as a reviewer, to notice the book’s genius. (And I’m not alone in my praise, by the way. The New York Times also highlights and recommends this book!) Kraegel was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, and I was born just to the east of him—just past Elkhart, Goshen and Shipshewana—in LaGrange. That’s Amish country. And, while enjoying Kraegel’s book, I began to wonder if some of that region’s Anabaptist pacifism rubbed off on us from our births. In any case, despite this heroic young knight’s blood-dripping and flesh-ripping heritage—something peaceful and graceful is born within him in these pages.

There’s more in this creative mix than origins, though. I should underline that all of the books I have mentioned in this review come from the bright minds at Candlewick Press, surely a publishing house that must feel like heaven to first-time authors like Kraegel. Candlewick has a strong taste for producing peacefully twisted books like these—and bravo to the crew for thinking like that.

Now, it’s your turn: Don’t wait. Not all picture books remain on sale forever. Tell a friend about this review. Share the news on Facebook. Snap this book up now, as it is debuting on Amazon. Then, you’ll have many years to read and savor it as a dog-eared gem in your own favorite corner of the family bookshelf.

Review by ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm

Please help us to reach a wider audience

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Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Beauty of Ramadan, the fasting month for 1 billion

July 8, 2012 by

Ramadan lights going up in the Muslim section of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Click the cover to learn more about this book.Ramadan Mubarak!
That’s the phrase to greet Muslim neighbors and colleagues. The word Mubarak (the same as the name of Egypt’s former president) means “Blessed,” so the greeting “Ramadan Mubarak” conveys the wish, “Have a Blessed Ramadan!”
Ramadan 2012 is different!
That’s largely due to the Olympic games coinciding for the first time with Ramadan. Because more than 1 billion people around the world are Muslim, that means many athletes traveling to London will have to adapt for the fasting month. Ramadan rarely plays a positive role in global headline news distributed in non-Muslim countries. This year, it will, thanks to the Olympics.
Today, ReadTheSpirit recommends that readers consider ordering a copy of “The Beauty of Ramadan,” by Najah Bazzy, a nationally known cross-cultural nurse and human-rights activist. Najah’s book is packed with fascinating information about the religious and also the health concerns surrounding Ramadan. Even if you are not a Muslim, this information is vital to educators, public-safety professionals, medical personnel and community leaders.

WHEN DOES RAMADAN BEGIN IN 2012?

Fast begins in daylight hours, Friday July 20 or Saturday July 21.
The actual beginning of the fast depends on many factors: Does one follow the lunar cycles with scientific instruments? Or does one start the fast only with eye-sight confirmation of the moon? What do leading imams in your region decide for the larger community? Is there an official schedule for your nation? News media reports across the Middle East and Asia are pointing toward July 21 for some regions, based on reporting by the Islamic Crescents’ Observation Project. (On the Project’s website, you can find elaborate astronomical charts.)

Across most of the U.S., the first fast is set for July 20: The Fiqh Council of North America is led by Muslim authorities across the U.S. from a wide range of ethnic groups and both the Sunni and Shi’a sects. The Council accepts calculation of the new crescent moon, marking Ramadan, by using scientific instruments. So, the Fiqh Council declares for the U.S.: “The first day of Ramadan is Friday, July 20, insha’Allah.” (That final phrase means, “God willing.”) Then, the fasting month ends with a huge celebration (the “Eid u-Fitr”), marked by a new lunar crescent that starts a new month. The Fiqh Council declares: “Eid ul-Fitr is Sunday, August 19, insha’Allah.”

MYTH: DURING RAMADAN, MUSLIMS EAT LESS

The world’s billion-plus Muslims certainly eat and drink less during daylight hours, but during the evenings—and, in some cultures and communities, all night long—Muslims enjoy a festive Thanksgiving-like relationship with their food and drink. This is a time of family gatherings; friends spend time together at mosques and in cafes; family matriarchs pull out all the stops in making favorite dishes.

How much extra food? The oldest English-language newspaper in the Middle East, the Egyptian Gazatte, reports that Egyptians are anxious about food prices as each Ramadan rolls around. A July 4 Gazette report explained to readers: “People eat 70 per cent more during Ramadan, according to a study conducted by the Chamber of Foodstuffs. Consumption of sugar and pastry increases even by 100 per cent, meat and poultry by 50 per cent and diary products by 60 per cent. The consumption of rice and wheat increases only by 25 per cent.”

Price gouging and price supports? In such a month, price gouging can be a problem and one UAE news publication reports: “Ministry of Economy’s office in the Emirates has intensified price checks to ensure that all outlets, including super markets, groceries, salons and maintenance service shops, are not increasing prices.” Recognizing the huge importance of Ramadan, the government of Pakistan actually provides national subsidies to needy families through thousands of regional food stores. The program provides bundles of typical foods families need to provide night-time meals, bought in mass quantities by the government, bundled into “Ramadan Packs,” then sold at a deep discount to low-income families.

RAMADAN AND THE OLYMPICS: POSITIVE NEWS FROM THE UK

The Muslim calendar is based on lunar cycles. So, observances like Ramadan “move forward” through the world’s standard calendar. In 2011, Ramadan was entirely in August. In 2012, the start of fasting moves into mid-July and that’s a crisis for Muslim athletes competing in the 2012 Olympics.

In their Ramadan reporting, the Times of India and Reuters are citing a university study that, in a typical summer soccer match, an athlete loses 2 liters of body fluids. Fasting under such conditions seems impossible—but Islam traditionally exempts travelers from fasting as well as anyone for whom fasting poses a health risk. Olympic competitors might claim either exemption; and Muslim scholars are suggesting a range of other ideas from “making up” the fast later to donating funds for feeding hungry families.

Across the UK, non-Muslims are suddenly well aware of Ramadan in a positive way. Muslim athletes suddenly are talking about the depth of their faith—and their commitment to peacemaking and helping the poor during Ramadan. And there’s more! Muslim organizations in areas around the Olympic venues are welcoming both Muslim and non-Muslim visitors for Iftars (breaking-the-fast dinners after the sun sets). The UK grocery giant Tesco has set up a Ramadan portal within its website, already declaring: “Ramadan Mubarak.” Among the featured Tesco items are dates, traditionally the first bite each night as the fast is broken.

Also: Read the News Release on Ramadan posted within the official 2012 London Olympics website.

And: There is more about the Olympics debate in Stephanie Fenton’s Holiday column on Ramadan.

RAMADAN: A GREAT TIME FOR VISITING

Red-Carpet Hospitality in the UK: Given the global focus on London during Ramadan, various UK nonprofits and religious groups have established Iftar 2012, a program to organize and publicize a wide array of welcoming events. The information is centered on the Iftar 2012 website, a colorful collection of newsy posts and information.

Iftar 2012 describes its mission this way: “The British Muslim community invites you and your Olympic team to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join them in a Ramadan fast-breaking meal during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Never before has the Olympics in the modern era coincided with the Islamic calendar month of Ramadan. Iftar 2012 is hoping to deliver the Ramadan experience with the help and support of Mosques, Islamic centers, community groups during the 2012 Olympics.” In many places on the website, the organization emphasizes that this is open to “Muslims and non-Muslims, people of all colors and races, people of faith and no faith.”

Hospitality across the United States: While Iftar 2012 in the UK already had generated a lot of news coverage, the same hospitality is shown by Muslim communities across the U.S. Generally, non-Muslims are welcome to visit mosques on most nights of Ramadan. It’s best to visit with a Muslim friend or to call ahead to ensure that someone from the mosque will orient you to the evening’s program. Most American Muslim centers do not provide nightly Iftar meals; that’s not typically a part of the evening gatherings for prayer and inspirational talks. However, most American Muslim communities do host occasional Iftars for friends and visitors. Call a local mosque or Muslim center and ask about local plans in your part of the U.S.

SERMON WELCOMING RAMADAN BY PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH)

The Prophet’s sermon on Ramadan is one of the world’s most famous Muslim texts. Countless versions rendered in English are floating around the Internet, some of them more difficult to understand than others. For her book, The Beauty of Ramdan, Najah Bazzy consulted Muslim scholars and, then, gives readers this formal and yet accurate paraphrase in English. Note on parenthetical terms: The letters PBUH are a way for Muslim writers to show respect for the Prophets in their religious tradition, including Moses and Jesus. They stand for “Peace Be Upon Him.” In most English translations of Muslim texts in Arabic, parentheses are used to indicate words that go further than translation to add clarity to the otherwise unwritten context of a line.

Muslims enjoy the Quran inside the huge mosque in central Jakarta, Indonesia. Another popular form of worship is to recite the various Arabic “names” or attributions of God, often using a string of beads that sometimes are described, in English, as a rosary.O People! The month of God (Ramadan) has approached you with His mercy and blessings. This is the month that is the best of all months in the estimation of God. Its days are the best among the days; its nights are the best among the nights. Its hours are the best among the hours.

This is a month in which He has invited you. You have been, in this month, selected as the recipients of the honors of God, the Merciful. In this holy month, when you breathe, it has the heavenly reward of the praise of God on rosary beads (tasbeeh), and your sleep has the reward of worship.

Your good deeds are accepted in this month. So are your invocations. Therefore, you must invoke your Lord, in right earnest, with hearts that are free from sins and evils, that God may bless you. Observe fast, in this month, and recite the Holy Quran.

Verily! The person who may not receive the mercy and benevolence of God in this month must be very unfortunate having an end as bad (in the Hereafter). While fasting, remember the hunger and thirst of tomorrow in eternity. Give alms to the poor and the needy. Pay respect to your elders.

Have pity on those younger than you and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen. Guard your tongues against unworthy words, and your eyes from such scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from such sounds that should not be heard by you.

Be kind to orphans so that if your children become orphans they also may be treated with kindness. Do invoke God that He may forgive your sins. do raise your hands at the time of Salat (Prayers), as it is the best time for asking His mercy. When we invoke at such times, we are answered by Him; when we call Him, He responds; and when we ask for anything, it is accepted by Him.

O People! You have made your conscience the slave of your desires; make it free by invoking Him for repentance and forgiveness. Your back is breaking under the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate before Him for long inervals and lighten your load.

Do understand fully well that God has promised in the name of His Majesty and Honor that He wil lnot take to task such people who fast and offer prayers in this month and perform prostration, and will guard their bodies against the punishment on the Day of Judgment.

O People! If anybody amongst you arranges for the Iftar (food for the ending of the fast) of any believer, then God will give you a reward as if you have set free a slave. He will forgive your minor sins.

Then the companions of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “But everybody amongst us does not have the means to do so?”

Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told them: Keep yourself away form God’s wrath, by inviting for Iftar, though it may consist of only half a date or simply with water if you have nothing else. O People! Anybody who may cultivate good manners in this month wil walk over the bridge to the next life with ease, though his feet may be shaking.

Anybody who in this month may take light work from his servants (male or female), God will make easy his accounting on the Day of Judgment.

Anybody who covers the faults of other sin this month, God will cover his faults in this life and in eternity. Anybody who respects and treats an orphan with kindness in this month, God shall look at him with dignity in the Hereafter. Anybody who treats well his kinsmen, in this month, God will bestow His mercy on him, while anybody who mistreats his kinsmen in this month, God will keep him away from His mercy.

Whoever offers a recommended prayer in this month, God will give him freedom from Hell. Whosoever offers one obligatory prayer in this month, for him the Angels will write the rewards of 70 such prayers, which were offered by him in any other month.

Whosoever recites repeatedly Peace and blessings upon me, God will keep the scales of his good deeds heavy, (promising heaven).

READ MORE ABOUT MUSLIM LIFE AND RAMADAN

More about Ramadan in our Holidays column. Writer Stephanie Fenton follows Holidays and Festivals around the world. Her column already has additional details about the start of Ramadan. You may also want to bookmark the URL to her column https://readthespirit.com/religious-holidays-festivals/ so that you can follow upcoming stories about individual holidays that are marked within the month of Ramadan—whch will be published as Stephanie files those stories.

Read an interview with Dr. John Esposito, widely regarded as a top English-language scholar on Islam. ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm conducted this interview with Esposito a couple of years ago, but most of the scholar’s conclusions are relevant to this day.

Athlete’s point of view: Female Tae Kwan Do instructor Fidaa Bazzi talks about the difficult challenge of following the Ramadan fast as an athlete and college student in the U.S.

Mom’s point of view: Cooking during Ramadan is quite an effort, explains Zahia Hassen.

Hearing the Quran recited during Ramadan is one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences for Muslims around the world. Radwan Almadrahi talks about this experience.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ‘THE BEAUTY OF RAMADAN,’ a complete book about this season by cross-cultural nurse Najah Bazzy. This book not only explains the month of fasting in detail, but also contains information that is helpful to educators, health care professionals and community leaders.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

We welcome your Emails at ReadTheSpirit@Gmail.com
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

13 True American Stars We All Should Know

July 1, 2012 by

PHOTOS FROM TOP: Kent Nerburn and his wife, the writer Louise Mengelkoch, on the porch of their Minnesota home; socks on a clothesline; Robin Roberts and Missy Buchanan in New York on the GMA show discussing their book about Robin’s mother; documentary filmmaker Ian Cheney; the cover of Joe Sacco’s Journalism; musician Carrie Newcomer; comedian-pastor-author Susan Sparks; theologian James Cone; the Goodwin family; travel writer Judith Fein has fun on one of her many global journeys; former-Amish writer Saloma Furlong; musician Fran McKendree; and bread related to Benjamin Pratt’s meditation. For July 4, we celebrate Americans
who are devoting their lives to strengthening our communities in creative ways. CLICK THE LINKS in each of these 13 mini-profiles to read a wide range of creative, inspiring stories. Enjoy!

(For fun facts and debunked myths about the actual holiday, read our Independence Day story.)

1 KENT NERBURN: OLD ARTIST
REBORN AS A VIRAL YOUTH

We love the first of our July 4 stars!
Kent Nerburn began his career as a sculptor, then morphed into one of America’s most beloved authors writing about Indian culture. Now, later in his life, Kent suddenly is having a ball going viral with a story from early in his career that often is headlined “The Cab Driver” or “The Taxi Driver” as it bounces around the Internet. We included a visit with Kent and his wife in our American Journey series in 2010. But, for the 2012 Fourth of July week, we’ve decided to join the viral publishing of Kent’s stirring “Cab Driver.”

2 DANIEL BUTTRY:
‘WE ARE THE SOCKS’

Speaking of “going viral,” inernational peacemaker Daniel Buttry is on his way toward a viral spread of an inspiring true story that involves prayer, international hot spots and—socks. Yes, socks, like the ones you may be wearing right now. Today, we also are joining in the viral republishing of Dan’s “We Are the Socks.” (Warning: Reading this story may be dangerous to overly comfortable readers.)

3 MISSY BUCHANAN: MATRIARCH
INSPIRES GMA’S ROBIN ROBERTS

Here’s another star you may not immediatley recognize. We’re publishing a new story by author Missy Buchanan about Robin Roberts’ family.
Years before other authors turned to writing about the spiritual challenges of aging, Missy was inspiring people to reach out toward older men and women in their communities. Recently, Missy helped Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts produce a book about Robin’s mother, Lucimarian Roberts. Now, the world knows that Robin Roberts is facing a life-and-death challenge this year. What you probably don’t know is the story of the spiritual matriarch at the helm of Roberts’ big family. That’s Missy’s story, today.

4 IAN CHENEY:
EYE-POPPING PBS FILM

Back in 2007, Ian Cheney brought us King Corn, a film that fans praise as a wake up call to the overwhelming dominance of corn in American culture. (Farmers and ranchers were not so happy.) But, on July 5, 2012, PBS’s award-winning POV series will premiere Ian’s latest film, “The City Dark.” In one hour of remarkable filmmaking, Cheney not only raises some urgent ecological questions—but he also touches on deep spiritual questions. ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm reviews Ian’s new film The City Dark and explains how you can see it on TV—or online.

5 JOE SACCO:
NEW LANGUAGE OF COMICS

Famous comics journalist Joe Sacco is the first Maltese-American writer we have featured in our pages. We mention that because Sacco’s life was shaped by his birth on Malta and his childhood in Australia. By the time he became an American, he already was well aware of the world’s breadth. Joe Sacco also is the most controversial “star” in today’s list of 13. There are nearly as many foes as fans of his provocative reporting in comic form. In reviewing his new hardback collection, Journalism, ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm argues that we should set aside our political arguments with Sacco. Instead, we should recognize that he is helping to create a new global language in news media.

6 CARRIE NEWCOMER:
CONNECTING WEST & EAST

Quaker folk musician Carrie Newcomer is as middle American as a Norman Rockwell painting. She even helps to fix hot dishes if a family in her congregation needs a hand. She once wrote a song celebrating the quirky names of Indiana’s county fairs. But she also is a restless creative spirit who is carving out new blends of traditional American and Indian music. Read our story about her album, Everything Is Everywhere, and learn how she collaborated with a famous musical ensemble from India.

7 SUSAN SPARKS: LAUGHTER
IS THE BEST MINISTRY

She calls New York City her home. Her church shares a building with a hotel. That’s why, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11/2001, we invited Susan Sparks to write for ReadTheSpirit. We are recommending, today, that readers go back and take in Susan’s column, The Lifeboat of Laughter. In that piece she writes: Humor highlights our commonalties. When we laugh with someone … our worlds overlap for a tiny, but significant moment. … As W.H. Auden wrote, “Love your crooked neighbor with your own crooked heart.” Yes, insipring and wonderfully quotable!

8 JAMES CONE:
THE CONSCIENCE

Born in 1938 in Arkansas, the great theologian James Cone has taught students at New York’s Union Seminary since the 1960s. Watching the resurgence of bigotry in 2012, Cone’s effort to keep Americans from forgetting our history of racism certainly is timely.
In our most recent profile of Cone’s work, we wrote about him: He is eager to link together the many hard-won conclusions that he has drawn in his long career and, as a modern-day prophet, to sum up his central message for this new century. His newest book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, is an important testament in that effort—if you care about bridging America’s racial divide.

9 The Goodwin Family:
More than a ‘Year of Plenty’

From the East Coast to the West Coast: The Goodwin family sprang onto the national scene with, “Year of Plenty,” a book about radically reorganizing their family’s patterns of gardening, eating, shopping and overall consumption. In summer 2012, you may enjoy revisting our 2011 interview with the Goodwins. At that time, we called their book brilliant and innovative. We wrote: This Norman Rockwell family sewed together a patchwork quilt of principles that real people can duplicate—and that takes the century-old adage “Think Globally, Act Locally” one step further. The Goodwins managed to “Think Locally, Act Globally”!
Take a moment with the Goodwins. They may change your family’s life.

10 JUDITH FEIN:
RETHINK TRAVELING

It’s summer. Millions are on the move. But, as you hit the road, are you thinking about the spiritual possibilities in your journey? Learn about The Transformative Magic of Travel with veteran travel writer Judith Fein, author of Life Is a Trip.

11 Saloma Furlong:
A Pilgrimage from the Amish

Millions of Americans saw a short version of Saloma Furlong’s story in the landmark broadcast of the two-hour PBS documentary, The Amish. Saloma is a rare and important new author, because she isn’t an outsider looking into Amish life. She comes from generations of Amish and tells her story in a memoir, Why I Left the Amish. This summer, millions of Americans will cruise through Amish communities nationwide, regarding these families with a nostalgia for our collective past. Meet Saloma Furlong and read about the real depth of Amish culture.

12 Fran McKendree:
MUSIC CAN MOVE THE WORLD

Musician Fran McKendree barnstorms the country week after week, leading retreats, performing at conferences and using music to stir men and women to wake up the sacred vocation that often is stifled within them. Fran regularly keeps in touch with ReadTheSpirit and we know that, above and beyond his work with church groups across the U.S., Fran is using his studio to send even more moving music out into the world. Want a vivid example of this? Read our story about Fran McKendree and his song, Times Like These.

13: Benjamin Pratt:
‘Bread & Hunger Games’

Finally, here’s a special gift to readers from the author Benjamin Pratt. Over many years, Ben has been both an expert on pastoral care—and a liteary scholar specializing in the works of various authors. Today, Ben Pratt closes our circle of 13 stars by offering us a meditation that you are free to share, connecting three elements: our daily bread, The Hunger Games novels, and a courageous story of a musical peacemaker in Eastern Europe. Please, make time for ‘Bread & Hunger Games’ by Benjamin Pratt.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

We welcome your Emails at ReadTheSpirit@Gmail.com
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Review: Ian Cheney’s eye-popping film ‘City Dark’

June 30, 2012 by

New York City’s annual Tribute in Light is one scene in Ian Cheney’s ‘The City Dark.’ Photo courtesy of PBS.HOW TO SEE THIS FILM: The PBS premiere of “The City Dark” is July 5, 2012. However, check local showtimes in your region. We are aware than this series does not air everywhere, so visit the PBS POV website for information about watching the documentary online through August 5, 2012.

Review: Ian Cheney’s ‘The City Dark’
invites us all to rediscover our stars

Review by RTS Editor David Crumm

Are you one of the many viewers still choking on Ian Cheney’s 2007 documentary King Corn, now available on DVD from Amazon? Well, then—good. That was Cheney’s aim in his broadside against the dominance of corn in American life. Although a lot of farmers and ranchers didn’t care for that film, 82 out of the 99 reviews on the Amazon page for King Corn were 4-star and 5-star raves.

Now, “The City Dark” arrives as a kinder-gentler successor to Cheney’s earlier work. That doesn’t mean it’s any less troubling. Cheney shows us that—after thousands of years of global wisdom about the importance of the starry night sky—most Americans now are covering themselves in “a luminous fog.” The basic problem is light pollution: In our quest for safety, security and longer working hours, Americans have wired our world to shut out the night. In doing so, we create glowing domes above most of our cities, preventing the stars from shining through to us.

ReadTheSpirit has participated in two full-scale pilgrimages to the Isle of Iona, one of the world’s most revered sacred sites. I can tell you, first hand, that one reason Iona is described as a spiritual “thin place” is the lack of light from the ground at night. The lack of nighttime light pollution is a fact of life on Iona. But, during one pilgrimage we made to the island, an Atlantic storm knocked out power across northewest Scotland. Men and women standing on Iona that night were knocked to our knees by the spectacular show of stars after the storm passed. The Milky Way looked like a tidal wave of light flowing toward us.

That’s what Ian Cheney tries to show us in the opening of “The City Dark.” Of course, we are watching this on TV screens (and some of us on computer screens), so Cheney’s ability to wow us with his visuals is sorely strained. But, I must say: He does a darned good job! Partly, he uses lots of visual tricks: High-resolution images, shots taken from telescopes, elaborately timed photography. Plus, he selects fascinating examples to include in his brief hour-long version for PBS. One of the best sequences shows us the hatching of endangered sea turtles and the tiny creatures’ vigorous search for the ocean shore, theoretically guided by starlight reflecting on the waves. Of course, due to light polution some of the fragile creatures head inland by mistake. (Don’t worry: Cheney’s team rescues those stragglers, but the point is obvious—thousands more perish due to light polution each season, when friendly filmmakers aren’t hanging around to help.)

But, “The City Dark” is not another Threat-of-the-Week nail-biter. If you are reading this review, then you’re among the many readers who already understand: We’re seriously messing up our planet. Cheney isn’t trying to beat us over the head with another eco-disaster warning here.

At his best, Cheney is pointing us to the deeply spiritual human connection with the night sky. Several times in the film, you’ll meet men and women who understand this age-old link between faith, science and the stars. Again and again, “The City Dark” asks us whether we’ve forgotten that essential connection.

Cheney asks us: “What do we lose, when we lose the night?”

Turns out: We may be losing our guiding lights.

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Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Joe Sacco nails down comic credentials in Journalism

June 29, 2012 by

Click the cover to jump to Amazon.

Sacco
contributes
to new
global
language

Review by ReadTheSpirit
Editor David Crumm

“Show me!” In this YouTube era of media, that’s increasingly the demand from an information-hungry public. Newspapers and magazines surviving today seem to put more effort into photos and videos than they do into prose reporting. Clearly, pioneering comic book journalist Joe Sacco has lived long enough to smile at the twists of history that are heading in his direction. Images rule!

What’s more—Comics rule! Even the classics are coming back. Are you a fan of Walt Kelly’s Pogo? The entire run is coming back as a multi-volume series. Amazon already is listing the September release of Pogo: Bona Fide Balderdash (Part 2 in the new series).

The new Avengers movie from Walt Disney already is No. 3 on the Worldwide All-Time Box Office list compiled by the Internet Movie DataBase. The top 25 films on that list include movies featuring Spider-Man, Shrek, the Ice Age animals, Transformers, the Lion King, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Lord of the Rings. The No. 1 and No. 2 movies on the list are Avatar and Titanic. Clearly, the list is dominated by fantasy, comic heroes and cartoons.

Major publishers are aware of this trend! For example, check out W.W. Norton and Co.’s list of upcoming titles for 2012-2013. The latest Norton catalog includes a long-awaited new graphic novel by James Vance and Dan E. Burr, On the Ropes, set among performers in a Depression Era circus. The original graphic novel in this series, Kings in Disguise, garnered high praise for its tough tale of truly dark chapters in Depression-era history. Plus, Norton is bringing out a gorgeous hardback edition of Drawn Together: The Collected Works of R. and A. Crumb, a look at the artistic and real-life collaborations of Aline and R. Crumb. (All of those links, above, take you to Amazon pages where you can pre-order these gems.)

That brings us to Joe Sacco, who was formally trained in journalism at the University of Oregon—but immediately began tearing up the journalism handbook to add new chapters about world news reporting. There’s not a writer whose body of work is better described as “love him or hate him” in terms of public reception. To begin with, a lot of traditional journalists shook their heads when Sacco began tackling such hot-button stories as injustices in Palestine and the Bosnian War. Turning life-and-death journalism into comics!?! Then, even when readers began to give Sacco the benefit of the doubt in using comics to report the news, there were his stories themselves. Hand a copy of his epic work, Palestine, to a room full of people who really care about Israel and Palestine—and they soon will be ripping pages out of the book as they argue over its contents. That’s despite the fact that it won the American Book Award in 1996.

THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

Just as Sacco produces non-traditional journalism, you are reading a non-traditional book review of his latest release, called simply: Journalism. At long last, just as Pogo is coming out in lavish hardback editions, Sacco’s shorter works of comic journalism over the years have been collected into a single hardback volume. Sacco has written a fresh Preface to this volume and it includes a fascinating, transparent description of his standards for comic journalism. He’s clear in arguing that this is a serious-minded, legitimate approach to reporting the news. Yes, he admits, the comic medium adds the bias of the individual artist’s drawing style to the factual reporting—but then, so does video editing in the slick new online video reports we are seeing from newspapers these days.

Click the cover to jump to Amazon.If you haven’t been following the explosion of comics as a new international language—from domination of the movie industry to the widespread revivals of classic comics—then check out Joe Sacco to see the potency of this movement. Sacco proves this isn’t merely nostalgia. This is a new non-fiction medium emerging on a global scale. Sure, Vance and Burr are producing a series of “graphic novels,” still carrying the label of fiction, but rest assured: For their readers, they are writing the history of the American Depression. That’s serious stuff. Yes, you may want to collect the Pogo reprints. We are big fans of Pogo at ReadTheSpirit. Yes, you may enjoy the mega-success of the Avengers and other comic super heroes.

But don’t miss Sacco’s work, because he is poking a sharply pointed pen into the red-hot nexus of global news media—and he is suggesting that the future may belong to budding Woodwards and Bernsteins who can literally set the scene for readers … by drawing it.

Here at ReadTheSpirit in the year ahead, Pssst! We have plans to join this trend in publishing. We are planning, now, to produce our own first comic book on the urgent issue of … Well, stay tuned to ReadTheSpirit. We’ll report that news in coming months. For now, order a copy of Journalism. (And, sure, pick up a copy of Pogo while you’re at it.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

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Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Christian Larson: Meet the ultimate pioneering Optimist

June 27, 2012 by

In Part 1 of our coverage of Christian D. Larson’s The Optimist Creed, we reported on several ways this long-forgotten writer was actually a visionary pioneer in American spirituality. Long before Oprah, he was writing about “attitude of gratitude.” Long before Eckhart Tolle, he was writing about “Christ consciousness.”
Today, ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm talks with Mitch Horowitz, head of the Tarcher publishing house and a historian of American religion himself. Here are …

HIGHLIGHTS OF INTERVIEW WITH TARCHER’S MITCH HOROWITZ
ON CHRISTIAN D. LARSON AND ‘THE OPTIMIST CREED’

DAVID: As a journalist, I’ve been reporting on religion and cross-cultural issues for more than 30 years. But I had never heard of Christian D. Larson until your new edition of his collected books arrived on my desk. How did you re-discover him, Mitch?

MITCH: That’s what’s so interesting about this. Larson is a name that can very easily fall between the cracks in the history of positive thinking and motivational thought in this country. He’s not a name that immediately pops to mind when people start compiling a short list of writers who shaped the positive-thinking movement: people like Ernest Holmes, and  Napoleon Hill, and Norman Vincent Peale, and Dale Carnegie. You can dig even deeper in thinking of names for a list like this and still Christian Larson’s name is likely to be forgotten. I wasn’t familiar with him, either.

Then, one day I was in a colleague’s office and, on his desk, I saw a copy of an old Christian Larson book from 1910, The Pathway of Roses. I picked it up, began reading and I was struck by Larson’s writerly elegance. His books really stand out among positive-thinking literature.

DAVID: I agree. Even after more than 100 years, his prose is surprisingly compelling. It’s pitched perfectly for general readers. He has a practical way of explaining fairly sophisticated concepts—yet the prose flows smoothly. For example: I think I would get more out of a Christian Larson book than I would from a head-scratching Eckhart Tolle book. What do you think? Why was Larson so gifted?

MITCH: He had the advantage that he was not primarily occupied as a traveling speaker or mental healer. He didn’t speak in front of many audiences. He didn’t maintain a roster of patients. He didn’t sell a lot of mail-order products. He was chiefly occupied as a writer and a publisher and he was able to perfect those skills. He wrote more than 40 books. Particularly in the years just before the First World War, his output was extraordinary. He focused on the style of his writing and he was able to argue passionately for his ideas. What you find in Larson’s work is an easygoing writing style and a language that prefigures a lot of the New Age and alternative spiritual vocabulary that is so popular today.

He became the great literary figure in the early days of the new-thought movement. This was more than a century ago and he was using phrases like “Christ consciousness,” “live in the present only,” “live the simple life,” “make yourself over” and, of course, “attitude of gratitude.”

BUT WAS CHRISTIAN LARSON … ACTUALLY CHRISTIAN?

DAVID: We will give readers the text of a short “Christ consciousness” passage from Larson’s book (in Part 1 of our coverage). He drops all kinds of Christian references in his books—even quoting specific Bible passages by chapter and verse. But, here’s a question I can’t quite answer: If Larson were living today, would he call himself “a Christian writer”?

MITCH: That’s a wonderful, wonderful question! I think he would say: “Yes, I consider myself a Christian writer, but we have to overturn our conventional understanding of what Christianity is.” Larson saw Christianity as a universal world teaching, a wisdom tradition that was articulated through the figure of Christ but that echoes other world religions, too. The phrase he used, “Christ consciousness,” abounds today in New Age and alternative spirituality writing. It’s a term that recognizes Christ as a kind of universal world teacher—a figure that is a role model to which all people can aspire, almost as the figure of the Buddha can serve in that way within Buddhist tradition. So, I do think Larson would claim the word “Christian,” but he would want to expand the meaning of that term into a universal wisdom.

WHERE DID A GENIUS LIKE CHRISTIAN LARSON … COME FROM?

DAVID: There’s very little biographical information about Larson available online, so let me ask you to verify—based on your own research into his life—what we tell readers about the origins of this remarkable talent, OK? One website says he was born on February 1, 1874. His parents were recent immigrants from Norway who settled in what really was pioneer-era wilderness in Iowa. His mother had lots of talents. She was a weaver, a midwife and a self-styled home nurse. Sound right to you?

MITCH: Yes, I have seen some immigration and Census records on Christian Larson and he was, indeed, born in Iowa. In broad strokes, that kind of description of his upbringing is correct.

I’m not sure that I would over-emphasize these things about his mother. I don’t think that, in that era, it was surprising that a mother would be involved in home healing or helping other families as midwife or as what one might call a nurse. There were not a lot of well-trained doctors in America at that time. Most of the immigrants who arrived in the U.S. were from crafts, trades, farms and from the merchant class. European doctors rarely migrated to America. That situation encouraged home healing. Who else was going to take care of people? And it led to a lot of experimentation here with alternative healing. I don’t think that was particularly remarkable in his family or his community there in Iowa. Remember that the real milestone in training physicians in modern medicine was 1893 when the doors opened at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. So, even in the early 20th century, medical training and medical standards were just beginning to reach any real level of acceptance across the country.

DAVID: Key to Larson’s story is that he was heading by train to a Lutheran seminary, when he found a Unitarian book left behind by another passenger. It changed his life. Accurate?

MITCH: Yes, I’ve seen references in a number of sources to his finding this Unitarian book. There was an unfinished autobiography by Larson that hasn’t been published, but still exists. Based on various sources, we know that he was indeed headed for a career in mainline ministry and his vocation turned around dramatically after this new influence that started with the book he found. But, there’s also no question that he had great talents. By 1901, still in his 20s, he was in Cincinnati and had founded a very early and very high quality metaphysical magazine called Eternal Progress. He was combining Progressive Era values with metaphysics. I found copies of his magazine still existing in the New York Public Library from just before 1910. Side by side in an issue of his magazine there would be an article about the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, about development in the Pacific Northwest, about the construction of dams—along with articles on metaphysics and positive thinking.

DAVID: He wound up in California, though, because he had Hollywood friends like Will Rogers.

MITCH: Yes, he relocated to Los Angeles in around 1911 or 1912 and his magazine, by that time, was renamed Progress magazine. Issues of his magazine were filled with an awareness of all kinds of things going on across the U.S. He had articles about progressive social concerns, for example, articles about the reformation of methods to rehabilitate prisoners next to articles about the rise of skyscrapers in Chicago.

DAVID: It’s amazing that Larson was so completely forgotten. In preparing for this interview, Mitch, I went back to your own book: Occult America: White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation (which is available from Amazon in paperback). You cover the waterfront of alternative spiritual movements in America, but there’s no mention of Larson.

MITCH: That’s correct, because I hadn’t heard of him when I finished Occult America. But, I will be writing about him in my next book, “One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life.” That book traces the history of this whole movement, which really is a serious spiritual and psychological movement whose impact has never been fully understood in religious histories. Innovators like Larson had an enormous impact on the way we commonly understand ourselves today.

Think about the notion of trying to be tough minded but also looking at the positive side of life. That sounds like an idea that’s always been with us, right? Sounds like common sense—the philosophy of refrigerator magnets. But, in fact, this idea is only about 150 years old. This kind of teaching is relatively new in historical terms. The ideas Larson wrote about wouldn’t have made any sense to most people 150 years ago. Most people wouldn’t have understood what he was talking about. My new book, “One Simple Idea,” will show readers the whole arc of this movement—and it will include Larson.

CONNECTING SPIRITUAL DOTS: FROM AA TO TANYA LUHRMANN

DAVID: Is Alcoholics Anonymous in your upcoming book? In our 2010 American Journey series, we visited the birthplace of AA’s co-founder in Vermont. Now, a lot of historians of religion argue that AA was a huge milestone in transforming organized religion into an array of personally expressive movements. AA moved millions of Americans from top-down hierarchies to grassroots spiritual self-expression.

MITCH: Absolutely AA is part of this movement. AA has, as its central idea, a belief that also animated the positive thinkers. The idea is that the individual, with proper preparation, can be a vehicle for higher purposes. We can re-arrange the outer world by using this connection, this channel to a Higher Power. This idea had roots in early writers like Emanuel Swedenborg. Today, you find this positive-thinking kind of personal approach to religion showing up in many Pentecostal and evangelical churches. This basic idea forms the backbone of all of our therapeutic spirituality from what we call New Age culture to a lot of contemporary evangelical culture. Yes, AA definitely was in the mix of that movement.

DAVID: We’ve come full circle this week, because you’re connecting us with the work of Dr. Tanya Lurhmann, whose new book “When God Talks Back” explores this kind of culture in an evangelical-Pentecostal denomination, Vineyard churches.

MITCH: That’s a fascinating observation and I agree with you. What we’re talking about is the real tone of American spirituality today. The whole focus of spirituality has moved toward healing—toward experiences that can help us now. That is the legacy of writers like Christian Larson. His name is not heard anywhere today in evangelical circles but listen to T.D. Jakes or Joel Osteen or Pat Robertson preaching about how to use insights from scripture to solve financial problems and health problems and relationship problems—that comes directly out of positive-thinking pioneers. Even if most Americans have never heard his name—that’s Christian Larson’s message still echoing in popular religious culture after all these years.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

We welcome your Emails at ReadTheSpirit@Gmail.com
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.