Remembering educator Harold Heie’s art of helping Americans to talk constructively with each other, even in tough times.

November 29, 2024 by

“Harold Heie practices what he preaches—which is civil conversation, from a serious Christian theological perspective, amid a context of brutal division. He doesn’t just theorize about the essential challenge—he creates contexts that model the way forward.”
Christian ethicist David Gushee on Harold Heie’s contribution to American life

Harold Heie (1935-2024)—
A Bridge Builder who Devoted Himself to Teaching Civility

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

NOVEMBER 2024—To Dr. Harold Heie, our friend: This is a heart-felt salute to your remarkable life. We’ve lost you just when your gifts are needed so urgently in the deeply divided America that we know you loved so much.

How timely is Dr. Heie’s body of work? This month (November 2024) I’ve learned that Dr. Heie had received a series of requests to appear on podcasts—and to do interviews with journalists—on the central question of his work: How can we bring people together across the political chasm that has deeply divided America?

Unfortunately for all of us who remember him as a gracious scholar and a compassionate guide to “difficult conversations,” Dr. Heie died Monday, November 18, at age 89 in the Sanborn, Iowa, area. He is survived by his wife Pat.

Harold Heie and his twin brother John were born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935 to a family of recent immigrants from Norway. He had an early conversion experience to follow Jesus at a Lutheran Brethren Church in Brooklyn—but his early interest was mathematics and science. As an undergraduate, he studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn; he earned a masters in mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California and a doctorate in aerospace sciences at Princeton University. For a while, he worked at the Hughes Aircraft Company in California.

However, for most of his life, Dr. Heie used his pragmatic intellect and his deep faith in service as a college administrator and innovative program director at several colleges, including Gordon in Wenham, Mass., Northwestern in Orange City, Iowa, and Messiah in Grantham, Pennsylvania. He also was widely in demand as an educational consultant with institutions nationwide.

In our tribute to Dr. Heie’s life, I’m intentionally listing all those colleges (above) because some of his former students may stumble across this column honoring our long-time friend and colleague.

What transformed Dr. Heie’s national reputation mostly occurred, though, after his “retirement” in 2003. That’s when he really focused on his Respectful Conversation Project—a way to research and model along with real-life participants a better way to bring people together to talk about their differences. Much of the Project’s website is now dormant, but this “About” page includes a video of a sermon by Dr. Heie in 2012 in which he spoke about the convictions behind his work.

The Seeds of Dr. Harold Heie’s Wisdom

Dr. Heie’s key insight about bringing people from diverse backgrounds together for conversation is that any such gathering should begin by focusing on what we share. If we start there, our differences won’t seem so daunting.

My last interview with Dr. Heie was in 2019, when he described what he was doing in his Respectful Conversation Project and in his then-brand-new book, Reforming American Politics: A Christian Perspective on Moving Past Conflict to Conversation.

“Every Christian knows that we must love our neighbors,” Dr. Heie told me. “We all know that. There is no way to escape that truth. And, when I use the term ‘Christian,’ I am referring to anyone, whatever their particular denomination or tradition might be, who personally trusts in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as decisive for salvation and redemptive of the entire created order. Anyone who aspires to be a follower of Jesus must follow the two great love commandments taught by Jesus: love of God and love for neighbor.”

“So what’s the problem?” I asked him.

“We all know we’re supposed to love our neighbors—but we don’t agree about how to express that love,” he answered. “A lot of Christians wind up violating our values about providing a safe and welcoming space for those who disagree with us. This is a real tragedy because, if we’ve lost our focus on love of neighbor, then we’ve really lost our way.”

I told Heie, “As a journalist specializing in covering religion, I’ve been reporting on these conflicts, sometimes called culture wars, that have been convulsing the religious landscape for many decades—certainly since the 1960s. Now, we’re at a point when many so-called ‘Christians’ are angrier than I’ve ever seen them. These are our fellow Americans. How did we get so angry?”

“There are many ways to begin answering that question,” he said. “But I think the main problem today is what I refer to as tribalism. We have segregated ourselves into tribal groups where we tell ourselves: We have the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the issue at hand. And, if anyone outside our tribe dares to talk about this issue? We know they clearly don’t have the truth. We don’t need to listen to them.”

“To some extent, we’ve always seen that kind of conflict, haven’t we?” I asked him.

“Yes, to a certain extent, tribalism always has been a part of American history. So, why is tribalism getting so much worse now? I think social media has made a major contribution. Social media is not conducive to real conversation. In fact, social media tends to insulate us and often precludes real conversation. The deeper we go into our tribal social media, the less opportunities we have to learn something from someone who disagrees with us. Adding to that problem of isolation is our obsession with speed in communication today. People don’t have time for the complex conversations we need to explore the most important issues we face today. Working through alternative points of view is a laborious process. Learning from each other takes time. What most people want today is an answer that will fit into a Tweet.”

Yes, There Are Christian Values and Virtues that Promote Conversation

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

Throughout this unusual book—Reforming American Poplitics—readers meet Dr. Heie and 23 of his online discussion partners. In this particular phase of Dr. Heie’s overall project, these partners focused on the timeless values and virtues that can move Christians away from the current climate of conflict. Then, in his final chapter, Heie devotes 30 pages to a detailed overview of these values, easily organized with sub-heads so that the material flows logically from one lesson to the next. This section is perfectly laid out to help discussion leaders present these ideas to a group or class in a step-by-step manner.

Dr. Heie begins with Love, Humility, Courage, Respect, Truth, Shalom, Justice, Patience and Hope. Then, he offers suggestions for applying these values in the world today. Among his many recommendations:

  • Develop personal relationships of mutual understanding by listening to and talking with those who disagree with you.
  • Move from understanding to trust.
  • Convene respectful conversations and expect civility.

Tips for Congregations Hoping to Encourage Conversation

In our interview, Dr. Heie stressed that starting his kind of small group requires thoughtful preparation.

“This reflects my hard-earned experience with what has and hasn’t worked for me,” he said. “You can’t hope to have a really good conversation unless you devote the first session to discussing the purpose of the conversation—and the ground rules. In our first sessions, we don’t talk about the main political topic at all. I always start with two leading questions: Why are you interested in being part of this group? And: What do you hope the end result will be from this group? We give people a chance to respond without interruption. The whole point of starting with that kind of session is to get used to listening to each other. We hear personal stories. We begin to understand more about what shapes each person’s way of thinking.

“Then, I lay out my five ground rules for conversation and I say plainly: ‘If you’re not going to abide by these five ground rules, don’t come back.’ That’s why I tried to spell out those ground rules in my new book.”

Readers will find that portion of his book beginning on page 388 with sub-heads over helpful sections that include:

  • Develop personal relationships of mutual understanding
  • Move from understanding to trust
  • Convene respectful conversations and expect civility (a section that includes Heie’s five bullet points)
  • Reach across the aisle, or table, seeking both/and positions

Dr. Heie’s book really is a complete tool kit for teachers, community leaders and moderators of the millions of small discussion groups and classes that meet regularly in congregations coast to coast.

And, I am not alone in saying this.

“Harold Heie practices what he preaches—which is civil conversation, from a serious Christian theological perspective, amid a context of brutal division. He doesn’t just theorize about the essential challenge—he creates contexts that model the way forward. This book is an impressive example of what Heie is about. I strongly recommend it—and the practices it embodies.”

So says the Rev. Dr. David Gushee, author of Changing Our Mind.

Dr. Harold Heie’s work sounds pretty timely doesn’t it?

So, perhaps our readers can understand our sorrow at his lost—just when we could have used his expertise more than ever.

Stay Tuned—

As a man of science, Dr. Heie donated his body to the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Carolina. There are no immediate plans for a memorial service.

As the publisher of one of Dr. Heie’s books most important books, we will continue to receive news about him—and we will share with our readers if there is an update on plans to honor his life and legacy.

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Lincoln’s message in establishing Thanksgiving is a beacon of light in our divided times

November 25, 2024 by

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers!

This week, please remember Lincoln’s wisdom in giving us this holiday

BACK IN 2013, to mark the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s declaration of an American Thanksgiving, Lincoln scholar Duncan Newcomer produced the following 12-minute video, explaining the enduring wisdom of that historic decision.

NOW, in November 2024, our ReadTheSpirit staff has been reminded by many of our readers of the wisdom Duncan has been drawing from Lincoln for many years.

One reader added to an email string about Duncan’s public efforts to have us all remember Lincoln’s wisdom in 2024: “Just the right time for this; just the right message this year.”

So, the following short video—and an accompanying “Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Prayer” that Duncan assembled from famous Lincoln lines—have been inspiring our readers even before this week’s republication.

FIRST, here’s the video, which we are pleased to feature again in November 2024 on this 161st anniversary of Lincoln’s original Thanksgiving declaration:

Then—
Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Prayer

Edited and presented by Lincoln scholar Duncan Newcomer

So, we must think anew,
And act anew.
We must disenthrall ourselves.
We are not enemies,
But friends.
We must not be enemies.
We cannot separate.
There is no line, straight or crooked,
Upon which to divide.
We cannot escape history.
No personal significance, or insignificance,
Can spare one or another of us.

The mystic chords of memory
Will yet swell the chorus of union
To every living heart
And hearthstone,
And again touch
The better angels of our nature.

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Care to Enjoy More Lincoln Right Now?

GET A COPY of Duncan’s 30 Days with Abraham Lincoln—Quiet Fire.

Each of the 30 stories in this book includes a link to listen to the original radio broadcasts. The book is available from Amazon in hardcover, paperback and Kindle versions. ALSO, you can order hardcover and paperback from Barnes & Noble.

 

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This tiny Jewish community dreamed an impossible dream of interfaith cooperation

November 17, 2024 by

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

A courageous woman became a peacemaker

And now—an opportunity to participate in-person in Michigan in December 2024

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

Forty years ago, the tiny Jewish community in Muskegon, Michigan, dreamed of showcasing the potential of interfaith cooperation. They floated the almost impossible idea of having the region’s schools, churches, cultural centers and nonprofits agree to host dozens of events to celebrate the upcoming Jewish centennial in this Lake Michigan shoreline community. Even though the vast majority of their partners weren’t Jewish, they dared to tell the world: We’re going to do this! We’re going to bring some of the most famous Jewish scholars and creative professionals to our small town. Let’s show the world what interfaith cooperation can achieve!

And they pulled it off!

In the fall of 1988, I reported the story nationwide for the Knight-Ridder wire service, which began: “They used to joke about having world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman play a solo to open the Jewish centennial celebration in Muskegon. … But after Perlman was, indeed, booked for the centennial’s opening night—the 1,800 seats for his performance were sold out and more than 50 other programs were scheduled. And, those visionary planners knew they had the makings of a major success on their hands.”

Now, 40 years after those initial, optimistic plans were laid—Muskegon remains one of the world’s most unlikely centers of interfaith cooperation.

An Opportunity to Take Part in December 2024

ON DECEMBER 5, 2024, you—and your friends, perhaps a group from your congregation or community—are welcome to attend “The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion.” That’s a link to the program overview. And, from that opening page, you can click to sign up to attend at this second page.

WHEN: Thursday, December 5, 2024, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

WHERE: Eberhard Center, 301 Fulton St W, Grand Rapids, MI 49504—which is part of Grand Valley State University.

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT NOW? Organizers of the event explain it this way: “Divisions have often led to violence and religion is not immune. National power and nationalism can obscure the ethical issues in times of division. We see this in our country as well as internationally. This can be observed currently as well as throughout history. Join us for The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion, featuring three leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities.”

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO SYLVIA KAUFMAN’S LEGACY? Again, the organizers summarize it nicely: “West Michigan has a rich history of engagement in interfaith dialogue, largely because of the organizations Sylvia Kaufman, a respected community leader, has founded. Sylvia initiated the first community dialogue on interfaith issues through the former West Shore Committee for Jewish/Christian Dialogue. Since that time, hundreds of premier scholars, clergy, citizens, and students from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths have come together every three years for a conference, now known as the Jewish/Christian/Muslim Triennial Interfaith Dialogue.”

WHO ARE THE THREE HEADLINERS?

As a journalist who has covered religious diversity for half a century—I can tell you this is a rare opportunity to hear three of the world’s leading lights in interfaith dialogue—at a time when there is less constructive interaction between the faiths because of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. This trio is truly remarkable:

ELAINE PAGELS, who is now 81, has been a leading scholarly voice in pushing Christians to expand their awareness of religious diversity in our world—since the 1970s, when she became famous for her landmark study, The Gnostic Gospels.

RABBI DONNIEL HARTMAN, 66, is now world renowned in his own right for carrying on work begun by his father, the late Rabbi David Hartman, (1938-2013). This is a bittersweet return to west Michigan for the younger Rabbi Hartman because his father participated in the inaugural event in this long-running dialogue series, which was held at that time in Muskegon. This was before Muslim scholars were a part of these interfaith gatherings and the elder Rabbi Hartman was in dialogue on that first occasion with the late Bishop Krister Stendahl (1921-2008). In his prime, Stendahl also was ranked among the world’s top interfaith scholars.

MUSTAFA AKYOL, 52, has emerged as a leading figure in progressive Islam. Until the last few years, Akyol regularly wrote opinion pieces for The New York Times. He is generally respected as a journalist and author, although he also has been entangled in various public debates about his viewpoints on a range of issues.

AGAIN—the main gateway to learn more and sign up to attend is “The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion”

Learn More about Sylvia Kaufman, the true pioneer of interfaith relations in west Michigan

Since the mid 1980s, Charles Honey has been a top religion newswriter. He was based in west Michigan at The Grand Rapids Press during all the years Sylvia Kaufman—and her many friends—launched and developed an ongoing interfaith legacy in the region. So, he naturally was tapped to help prepare the illustrated biography of Kaufman, called Sylvia’s Story and now available on Kindle.

In reviewing Charles’ book about Sylvia Kaufman for Goodreads, I described the importance of this book as a must-have for anyone interested in religious diversity in America. I also described the book as unique and inspirational because it shares the true story of “a visionary woman who changed the religious world from her home in a small Midwestern town.”

To learn more, either click on the book’s cover at the top of this story, or visit my Goodreads review of the book, headlined: “The Power of One Woman to Bring the World’s Faith Leaders Together” You can get to the book’s Amazon Kindle page either from that cover, above, or from my review on Goodreads. And, please: Do so. This is a story that more people need to read—especially right now.

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Care to learn even more?

ReadTheSpirit magazine’s staff and writers are active supporters of interfaith dialogue and, even in this week’s issue of our online magazine, we have a fresh report from our partner at the Michigan State University School, Joe Grimm. Working with Joe and his MSU Bias Busters project, we have helped to publish dozens of “100-question-and-answer” guides about American diversity, which you can find listed on Amazon as well.

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What did this election show us? We all need to learn more about our neighbors’ diverse gifts.

November 17, 2024 by

Diversity was a decisive factor in sometimes surprising ways

We are continuing to help all Americans learn about our neighbors’ distinctive cultures and contributions

By JOE GRIMM
Founder of the MSU School of Journalism Bias Busters project

The 2024 election showed how campaigns are paying more attention to the influence religious and ethnic groups can have on the course of the country. This time, Republicans won all seven swing states and their 93 electoral votes, far exceeding the 270 needed to win the White House.

But here’s a startling fact emerging in the post-election analysis: If just 130,000 voters in three of these battleground states had changed sides their 44 electoral votes would have changed the outcome.

Where were diversity issues decisive in this election?

Analysis of this election will continue for years—but here are a few emerging snapshots that illustrate the crucial importance of diversity issues:

Michigan: With more Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians than any other state, this multicultural and multi-faith group coalition protested the Biden White House’s support and funding for Israel’s war in Gaza. Listen to Michigan reports that 100,000 people responded to a call to vote “uncommitted.” Others threw their votes toward the Green Party.

In 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Michigan by 10,674 votes out of almost 4.8 million. Democrats countered in 2020 with more advertising and visits. Michigan flipped, giving Joe Biden a margin of 154,000 votes.

This time, in the face of active Republican outreach and the uncommitted vote campaign, Kamala Harris lost Michigan by 80,618 votes.

Michael Traugott, research professor at the University of Michigan’s Center for Political Studies, explained the results on The Conversation.  He wrote, “In 2020, the Biden-Harris team had won almost 69% of the vote in Dearborn. In 2024, Harris got just 36% – with Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, taking 18%.”

Pennsylvania: This state has more Anabaptists, primarily Mennonites and the Amish, than any other. However, because Anabaptists traditionally have concentrated more on the heavenly kingdom rather than earthly governance, turnout is lower than for other citizens. But this year, according to Anabaptist World, “Media outlets reported Amish people registered to vote in unprecedented numbers after state agriculture officials executed a search warrant … to investigate if sales of raw dairy products produced there caused E. coli illnesses in Michigan and New York. Regulations ban the sale of raw dairy in other states. The newsletter said Mennonites and the Amish found shared values with the GOP and government overreach.”

Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016, Biden took it back in 2020. Trump won by 146,554 this year in a margin larger than his 2016 win.

Wisconsin: This swing state has 30,000 Hmong people, more than any states other than California and Minnesota. Few Hmong people lived in the United States until they were airlifted out of Southeast Asia, where they had fought in the CIA’s Secret War during the Vietnam War. Hmong people have a very high rate of citizenship. Their power at the polls is growing.

In July, before Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, her husband, Douglas Emhoff, visited a Hmong festival in central Wisconsin.

According to the New York Post,  Emhoff told festival-goers: “This community right here could decide the election in this state, which could decide the entire election. You have the power right here.”

But campaigning hard at a cultural and social event honoring Hmong veterans may have backfired.

The Post reported that State Sen. Cory Tomczyk, working a Republican booth at the Wausau festival, said people were unhappy “with the chaos and campaign paraphernalia Emhoff brought to the event.”

Wisconsin helped put the GOP over the top and Tomczyk signaled the party will do more in the future. “It’s our fault we’ve been absent from this festival.” He said family values in the Hmong community “align with Republican values.”

The Michigan State University School of Journalism’s Bias Busters series has “100-question-and-answer guides” on Arab, Muslims and Hmong people. A guide about Anabaptists is almost out.

Whatever your perspective on the election is—the outcome makes it clear that all Americans will want to learn more about the distinctive cultures and contributions of our neighbors.

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Rusty Rosman endorses Missy Buchanan’s new book as a true ‘touchstone for living through heartache’

November 10, 2024 by

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

Two experts on end of life meet over Missy’s new memoir, ‘Feeling Your Way Through Grief’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Missy Buchanan is famous for writing about the spiritual values that strengthen us as we age. She is beloved by her thousands of readers because of her absolute honesty about the tough challenges we all face near the end of life—and also about the resilience we can reliably draw from our faith. That’s why her readers now are so warmly welcoming Missy back with her new memoir, Feeling Your Way through Grief, which tells how Missy made it through the many personal milestones she faced after the death of her husband. Rusty Rosman became one of Missy’s friends when Rusty published her own new book about planning for the end of life, called Two Envelopes. In fact, Missy first wrote about the death of her husband in a special Foreword Missy wrote for Rusty’s book. Now, both authors are crisscrossing the country talking to men and women about the need—first and foremost—to talk honestly about these issues now, before they become a reality in their lives. Our online magazine asked Rusty to reflect on Missy’s book. Here is what Rusty wrote about her friend’s work …

By RUSTY ROSMAN
Author of Two Envelopes

Grief hurts.

Missy Buchanan’s new book breaks your heart.

Her grief after the death of her husband is tangible in nearly every page of Feeling Your Way through Grief. As Missy acknowledges, life goes on—but the question is: How are we supposed to live it?

As I read through Missy’s short chapters, based on her experiences during the first year without her husband, I could see what was down the road for me or my husband when one of us dies. Each of us knows we will keep on breathing—but can we really appreciate how much our living is tied so intricately with our partner?

We share a home, laugh, cry, fight, eat, reminisce, plan, and do so many other things together—how will it be possible to do those things alone, someday?

Missy’s book lifts the veil that covers grief for most of us. Loneliness is a huge part of it but that’s just one part.

The loss of a spouse cuts deeper into our very definition as individuals. When death comes for one of us, suddenly we lose our definition of ourselves as part of a unit.  It’s gone, never to be what it was again.  Where is that old confidence that you can do anything because your partner is there to support you, laugh or shake their head at you?

You still can do anything—but the will and the satisfaction may vanish.

Page by page, Missy shares each new “first” after her husband’s death—and how beyond imaginable it is to navigate the new world she lives in without her husband. It breaks your heart and, at the same time, touches that part of you that recognizes the truths Missy shares.  Each of us dreads that day when it’s our turn to learn what Missy now knows.

As the author of Two Envelopes: What You Want Your Loved Ones to Know When You Die, I talk with readers every week about these universal issues in our lives. Through these nationwide conversations, I have learned what will touch and help readers in their grief.

And, I can tell you a couple of things that I know are true about Feeling Your Way Through Grief:

If you are married, then this book will touch you. You’ll know right away that Missy’s book is real.

And that’s the central truth that guides both of us in our work: Honesty.

Thank you, Missy for this wonderful new book that can become a touchstone for living through heartache.  I highly recommend this book as a validation of your feelings—feelings that so many of us are not even aware will be coming.

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Care to learn more?

Visit Missy Buchanan’s website to learn much more about her ongoing work and her many books.

Visit Rusty Rosman’s website to learn about her ongoing schedule as she continues, like Missy, to help groups of men and women across the country engage with these issues we all will encounter someday.

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Suddenly battling aggressive cancer again, Howard Brown reminds all of us that the key to survival is a caring community

November 4, 2024 by

Leading Advocate for Families with Cancer Finds Himself Back in a Fight for His Life 

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

He’s still shining brightly.

I know because I’ve talked to Howard regularly since his shocking diagnosis just a week ago revealed: The man who is known for surviving two different extremely long-shot stage IV bouts with cancer—and now heads a nationwide network helping to support cancer patients and their families—has just been hit by a third form of very aggressive cancer.

“This was a shock! It took me completely by surprise—my doctors, too,” Howard said from his Detroit-area hospital room where he is receiving daily chemotherapy. This time the cancer is Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), which had been invisibly devastating his body for weeks.

To read the now-famous stories of how Howard overcame two virtual death sentences from oncologists already, in his life, get a copy of his memoir Shining Brightly. Today, among his many advocacy roles in health care and interfaith relationships, Howard serves as chairman of the board of Paltown Development Foundation, a vast network of thousands of patients, caregivers and their families battling colorectal cancer. That was the second of three cancer diagnoses in Howard’s life.

How did Howard not know that cancer had come calling again?

He didn’t—and that’s an important part of this story. He didn’t suspect cancer was back—nor did his longtime oncologist friend who Howard sees for regular checkups. The only reason they discovered the AML, last week, before a catastrophic collapse was that Howard knew the drill: Something had changed unexpectedly in his body—which meant he had to call and get checked.

In fact, Howard is so healthy from a lifetime of attending to his fitness that, when his doctor friend first read his blood tests at Beaumont Hospital—the doctor assumed the lab report was flat-out wrong.

He apologized to Howard: “We’ve got to run this test again, Howard, because somehow the test is screwed up. If your blood levels were this bad, you’d be wheeled in here on your back—not strolling in here after a long walk. Howard, something’s wrong here, but it may just be this test itself. We’ll do it again right now.”

So, an entire second set of blood tests were taken and processed and, the moment Howard’s doctor saw that second lab report, his jaw dropped.

“Howard?” Then, the doctor paused, the news obvious on his face.

“It’s bad—isn’t it? Take your time,” Howard said—his first instinct was to reassure his doctor.

The doctor was shaking his head in disbelief. “There’s no way your condition has gotten this bad and you’re not just on the floor—I’ve never seen blood levels like this on a patient who’s walking around as healthy-looking as you.”

“Well, one thing I can tell you is: I’m sure glad I didn’t overlook that bruise that suddenly appeared on my arm,” Howard told the doctor. “I was just been playing some pretty heavy-duty basketball with friends and I thought the bruise was from a foul. I might have just dismissed it, but then I thought: Oh, well, I know the drill. It’s a sudden bruise. Something changed in my body—so I should check. But you’re right, I feel fine! I just took a five-mile walk.”

The doctor, who has known Howard for years, could not stop shaking his head. “No more ball playing for you, Howard. Your immune system is gone. I think your bone marrow has stopped working. If you catch a cold from someone else—especially flu or COVID—you’re going to die. Your immune system is shot—and that is very serious.”

Howard was sent into isolation in a Beaumont oncology section. He had enough energy to make a few calls—including one to me, his long-time friend and editor—and to post a few items online. Then, almost immediately, friends from around the world jumped in to reassure Howard that they’re providing many forms of support. Because Howard knows about the high costs of battling cancer at this level, one early post he made was a GoFundMe campaign headlined: HBstrong! Support Howard Brown—3rd cancer—AML.

Already, as of this story’s deadline, 160 donors have contributed nearly $46,000—and the fund continues to grow.

Howard’s mantra: Keep the focus on ways we all can help others

Even after such a stunning blow, Howard’s focus has been on encouraging his friends to do good toward other people, as well. That’s a natural expression of Howard’s life.

Yes, his GoFundMe page is an appeal for donations—but here’s the rest of his list for ways people “can do for me in my time of need”:

  • Please send prayers and hugs
  • Consider donating blood and/or platelets where you live. I will need transfusions—but so do many others.
  • Be kind to others.
  • Hug your family and friends for no reason.
  • And, keep shining brightly always!

The response across a half dozen social media platforms, email, text, phone and other media was so overwhelming that, when I was talking to Howard a few days ago, I suggested: “Can we publish a story in ReadTheSpirit?”

“Ohhh, you know that would help a lot,” he said. “I feel bad that I have not been able to keep up with individual responses to all the ways people have reached out to me. You know how—”

I cut him off. “Yes, of course! I know how you can’t rest until you respond to friends. I’m the editor of your memoir and of countless columns you’ve written in recent years. I know that you’re disciplined to respond to each note and act of kindness with a personal ‘thanks’ of some kind. It must be driving you crazy to feel so much incoming love—and you can’t keep up with responding to each person.”

He laughed. “You know me! Yeah, I’m thinking of each and every one who has reached out. I want to tell each one how much it means to me that they took a moment to reach out.”

“Well, for now,” I said. “I’m going to tell this story in ReadTheSpirit and I want you to lay back and let the Beaumont staff take you through the next 30 days of chemo. Don’t worry. We’ll get your word of “Thanks!” out there for everyone.”

Howard’s ‘Ace in the Hole’

“One thing that keeps me going everyday is that my twin sister, CJ, is still my Ace in the Hole,” Howard told me. “If I can make it through these 30 days of chemo, then we meet down at Karmanos in Detroit and we’re praying that a stem cell transplant from CJ to me will save my life again—just like it did in my first battle with cancer years ago.

Readers of Howard’s memoir Shining Brightly know that having a twin does not necessarily mean that a match is possible—but, in what the Brown family considers a miracle, CJ proved to be an exact match years ago. Her cells saved Howard’s life by kick-starting his own bone marrow to produce healthy cells again.

“And, it’s not 100 percent certain, but we hope that will happen again,” Howard told me. “First, then, I’ve got to make it that far.”

No question: Howard’s life could end before CJ can give him that priceless gift. That’s why Howard and his entire family especially value prayers. Two of Howard’s closest clergy friends—rabbis who have become dear friends through the years (and who also appear in his biography)—are spending time with Howard.

As of the deadline for this November 4, 2024, issue of our magazine, Howard said to let people know that he is determined to beat cancer once again—and that prayer and spiritual reassurance is a true lifeline for all cancer patients.

“And, so far, I’m holding up. Yes, I know the chemo will catch up to me soon and will slow me down, but for now—it’s early days and the doses are still low enough that I’m able to get up and walk around. I need to keep as fit as I can. Mainly, I’m overwhelmed with thankfulness for all of the kind wishes—the response to my Go Fund Me campaign and the prayers that I know people are wrapping around me every day! I feel very grateful.

“The one thing I regret is that I simply don’t have the time and energy to respond individually to the thousands—and that’s literally thousands—of notes and best wishes people are sending me from around the world,” he said to me. “The more I think about your invitation, David, I think your plan to write something for the whole ReadTheSpirit audience is one way that I can convey my thankfulness for all the people who are reaching out with support.”

I told Howard: “Well, when I saw the tidal waves of responses you’re getting, that’s why I thought of writing this column with you. No one wants to invade your privacy—but all of us who know your story understand that the key to surviving this truly life-threatening crisis is connecting with other people.”

“I’ve always said that, haven’t I?” Howard chuckled. “You know what I’m going to say next, don’t you?”

“Fighting cancer is a team sport,” I said. “You always say that.”

“Right. The key to surviving this kind of battle is accepting help from a caring community—and I’ve got excellent doctors and lots of dear friends surrounding me right now. And what else do I say?”

“Keep shining brightly.”

“That’s right,” he said. “Whatever happens to me—we all need to pitch in to make this world a better place. That’s what gets me out of bed every morning—and that’s no different right now. We’ve all got to keep shining brightly.”

Howard Brown and his twin sister CJ enjoying a sunny day before his recent diagnosis.

 

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Duncan Newcomer’s long-awaited “big book” on the spiritual life of Abraham Lincoln finds a home at Santos Press

October 28, 2024 by

A nationwide community of readers awaits this version of ‘Quiet Fire’

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit

Long-time followers of Lincoln scholar Duncan Newcomer have been awaiting Duncan’s “magnum opus” on the spiritual values that Abraham Lincoln brought to our deeply divided nation. Now, Conrad Kanagy, a sociologist, religion scholar and the founder of Santos Press, has announced that he will be working with Duncan in 2025 to finally publish what Duncan has been describing to audiences as his “big book.” The working title, we’re told, is Quiet Fire: The Spiritual Life of Abraham Lincoln.

This comes as wonderful news to Duncan’s myriad of friends nationwide—including a long list of journalists (Duncan has appeared many times in ReadTheSpirit magazine and has befriended readers, as well, through The Christian Science Monitor) and noted authors such as Peter Wallace, Greg Garrett, Jon Sweeney and Bob Cornwall (all four of whom are online friends of Kanagy’s publishing efforts).

For writers and editors who specialize in exploring spiritual values—especially those values that might help Americans navigate today’s deeply divided national landscape—this announcement is good news in troubling times.

What is “Quiet Fire”?

That two-word phrase has become the trademark for Duncan’s many public reflections on Lincoln over the years, whether on public radio or via newspapers, magazines, books, podcasts and public appearances. Duncan now is credited among Lincoln scholars for coining that evocative phrase to describe the deep core of Lincoln’s beliefs and personality.

As evidence of his influence with that phrase, Google’s AI summary currently reports:

While there isn’t a directly attributed quote from Abraham Lincoln that explicitly says “quiet fire,” the phrase is often used to describe his character, signifying a deep inner strength and resolve that was not outwardly flamboyant but rather quietly powerful; this association has been popularized by writers and historians who study Lincoln’s life and personality, particularly in works like Duncan Newcomer’s book “Quiet Fire, the Spiritual Life of Abraham Lincoln.”

To hear Duncan describe the origins of the phrase himself, watch this video interview with Conrad Kanagy, which recently was posted as part of Kanagy’s early promotion of the upcoming book.

You’re welcome to prepare for the big book’s release with daily doses of ‘Quiet Fire’

Part of Duncan Newcomer’s success in fostering a national awareness of Lincoln’s deep spiritual foundations rests on Duncan’s persuasive ways of making friends with other scholars and media professionals nationwide. Among his friends, for example, is The Christian Science Monitor’s Mark Sappenfield, who took over the reins of that storied newspaper in 2017. Mark’s own interest in probing spiritual and moral perspectives on American life has led to a long-standing series of connections between Duncan and that newspaper.

Duncan also convinced public radio producers to let him experiment with this theme in a series of short broadcasts that eventually reached a total of about 300 episodes.

“Since its beginning, radio has offered a warm medium for connecting the heart, the head, and the imagination. This delightful collection of Lincoln’s wisdom was seeded in a creative radio show, Quiet Fire,” said Sally Kane, former CEO of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, the network where this series was born on local WERU, a station in mid-coastal Maine. “Now, Quiet Fire has morphed into a daily companion for readers who connect the dots between time and space to map a new understanding of the chaotic times in which we live. Lincoln’s words resonate more urgently than ever, and Duncan has played alchemist in Quiet Fire to one of our country’s greatest souls and distilled an essence that can guide and comfort us.”

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

Meanwhile, Duncan already had become a popular contributing columnist in ReadTheSpirit magazine—and our publishing house produced a 30-day book based on his Quiet Fire broadcasts. That book is part of our ongoing series of “30 Days With” inspirational readers. Duncan’s Lincoln volume is titled: 30 Days with Abraham Lincoln—Quiet Fire.

However, beyond all of those waves of Duncan Newcomer media on the theme of Lincoln’s Quiet Fire—there still was a much longer manuscript sitting in Duncan’s office in Maine. In that magnum opus, Duncan wove together threads from Lincoln’s life into a larger tapestry that Duncan hoped would stand the test of time as an essential scholarly perspective on Lincoln’s spirit, faith and values.

That’s where Conrad Kanagy stepped into this network of relationships. Kanagy is best known nationally as the biographer of theologian Walter Brueggemann. Conrad also has been a popular professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. In the fall of 2024, Conrad announced he would retire after the current academic year—which will give him more time to work with the independent publishing house he founded in Elizabethtown, Santos Books.

When Conrad learned about Duncan’s body of work—and the unpublished “big book”—he began his efforts to grow Duncan’s audience by bringing the archive of those hundreds of original Quiet Fire public radio episodes to Spotify for easy access in coming years.

As a result, right now if you’d care to start on your own relationship with Duncan—and his vision of Abraham Lincoln as a spiritual mentor for our times—simply visit that Spotify link and you’ll find the first group of episodes.

Duncan, Conrad and Abraham: ‘A Perfect Fit’

Conrad says he’s proud to play this crucial role in Duncan’s vast national network of colleagues.

“The goal of our publishing company is to tell the sacred stories of individuals through biography, memoir, or autobiography,” Conrad said this week. “By sacred, I mean those stories that are special, unique, set apart, from the ordinary and everyday way we think of ourselves.”

That’s why his publishing house is such an important vocational step for him, Conrad said. “The goal of Santo Books is to share our stories so that each individual in our books can be seen as God sees them: loved by God, belonging to God, lovable to God—even those who don’t believe in God.”

So, the latest “chapter” in the overall story of Duncan’s and Lincoln’s “Quiet Fire” will come from Conrad’s press in 2025—because, as Conrad puts it, “Duncan’s story of Abraham Lincoln is a perfect fit—both in terms of how he saw others, but also in terms of how clearly he understood the sacredness of the other.”

And amid the deep chasms in American life and culture right now, Conrad says, there’s not a more important message to publish.

Stay tuned to ReadTheSpirit magazine for further news about the availability of this new book in 2025. We have asked Conrad and Duncan to alert us to the book’s availability for pre-sale, when it is listed on Amazon in 2025. As soon as we hear that good news—we’ll share it with all of you.

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