What is the greatest good we can do in this world?

OUR COVER STORY THIS WEEK introduces an important voice in the national conversation about Social Justice Investing: Andrea Longton—a nationally respected expert in this growing field of finance that encourages people to exercise their spiritual and ethical values while investing their money.

This is such an important area of interest for our long-time ReadTheSpirit readers that we providing two perspectives on Andrea’s work in this week’s Cover Story:

First, this is a Q-and-A with Andrea, interviewed by David Crumm with links to Andrea’s book and some of her free online resources, as well.

Then, in this second story, financial expert and author Jonathan Grimm adds his perspective on Andrea’s new book.

Please, if these stories interest you, share them with friends via social media and email. Andrea is bringing us some good news that’s needed in our world, today.

Holidays & Festivals

Happy Easter to our Eastern Christian Neighbors

SUNDAY, MAY 5 is Easter—or Great and Holy Pascha—for Eastern Orthodox Christians this year. You may think that Easter came and went a month ago—but millions of families around the world are just getting ready this week to celebrate the most important festival of the Christian year.

WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com

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And more news—

Mindy Corporon engaging in a national conversation about confronting hatred

As a publishing house, we often talk about our authors “engaging in a national conversation” as one of the primary reasons to do all the hard work of writing, editing and publishing a book. Quite simply: We want to make our world a better place with the creative and compassionate ideas we are sharing.

One author who has accomplished that, despite the trauma that transformed her life a decade ago, is Mindy Corporon. This column illustrates the many way that “national conversation” is taking place around us.

Click on this poster to read Ed McNulty’s review of the film.

Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with film reviews and discussion guides. This resource is used nationwide by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Here are some of Ed’s most recent free reviews and columns:

WE GROWN NOW—Ed writes, “Writer/director Minhai Baig’s ‘must-see’ film is an elegiac story of an imaginative boy facing the end of a way of life. It makes me believe all the more that the best of films are being made by independent filmmakers.”
PROBLEMISTA—”In this surrealistic film, writer-director Julio Torres provides an unusual twist to the story of an immigrant struggling mightily to stay in this country but is harrassed by a soulless immigration bureaucracy.”
CIVIL WAR—Ed writes, “Many angry citizens, who are upset over seemingly intractable political disputes, have talked about civil war breaking out in our nation—and would do well to watch writer/director Alex Garland’s film.”
IN THE LAND OF SAINTS AND SINNERS—”Liam Neeson’s latest foray into violence-laden action films is a little more nuanced than his usual fare.”
ASPHALT CITY—”French-born director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire has gifted us with the most harrowing parable about an ambulance medic since Martin Scorsese’ 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead.”
WICKED LITTLE LETTERS—”The film becomes a whodunnit period piece and study of character and class, ending with a court drama that is fun to watch.”
IMMACULATE—”Director Michael Mohel combines horror with religion in this tale of twisted religious fanaticism joined with male chauvinism.”
DUNE, PART 2—Ed urges us to continue with this remarkable series. “The incredible production values are matched by the A-list actors.”
IRENA’S VOW—“Director Louise Archambault drew on a script by Dan Gordon, based on his Broadway play focusing on the young Polish nurse Irena Gut Opdyke.”
ONE LIFE—”Director James Hawes’s, film straddling two time periods, focuses upon a part of the Kindertransport during World War II and the man mainly responsible for its success.”
CABRINI—This film “is probably the best defense of immigrants that you will see in this or any year.”
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE—“Director Reinaldo Marcus Green’s film focuses upon a couple of years of the singer/composer’s life, with flashbacks to his teenage years.”