Moving Together Toward Compassion

COVER STORY—Most of us who have made it into the middle of adulthood can recall moments of harrowing tragedy, humiliation and harm we have suffered in various forms. The scholar and teacher Dr. Catherine Meeks—who now is 78 years old as she gives us her memoir A Quilted Life—describes such experiences as the “rags” we accumulate in life. The central metaphor of her book is the traditional way African American women, in particular, saved discarded cloth “rags” so they could cut small, useful pieces to assemble beautiful quilts.

Intrigued? We hope so. There’s a lot of valuable wisdom Dr. Meeks shares in this author interview—plus, we’ve got a link to Dr. Meeks’ latest venture, a colorful new website designed to promote personal and communal healing. If you enjoy this Cover Story, please share it with friends this week via social media and email. That small act of sharing online helps spread good news in our world.

And more news this week—

Mindy Corporon—

In April, ‘overcome hate by promoting kindness and understanding’

EACH SPRING FOR 10 YEARS, author and nationally known advocate for compassionate reconciliation Mindy Corporon has spearheaded the Kansas City area “Seven Days” campaign that inspires thousands of people to undertake community projects. April 13, 2024, is the 10th anniversary of the antisemitic shootings that killed three people, including Mindy’s father and son.

First, you can learn more about this remarkable community-wide program at the Seven Days website.

Then, stay tuned to ReadTheSpirit next week for more news about an upcoming PBS documentary in the Kansas City area about Mindy’s life and work over the past decade.

Finally, to read the entire inspiring story, get a copy of Mindy’s memoir, Healing a Shattered Soul, from Amazon.

From Howard Brown:

Encouraging author collaborations

HOWARD BROWN WRITES OUR FRONT EDGE PUBLISHING column, this week, about the value in collaborative books produced with other authors. Many of our authors have done this over the years, including Howard himself. In this column, Howard writes about his latest collaboration with Robert W. Jones—including an inspiring new podcast Howard hosted with Robert about their work together.

Celebrating ‘Outsider’ Artists Living Among Us

COULD A FRIEND BE AN UNHERALDED LIGHT IN OUR WORLD? That’s the main theme of this column by David Crumm, sharing news about a major milestone for readers who are interested in the history of comics and graphic novels. The venerable publishing house Fantagraphics has just released a major collection of the “outsider” comic creator Frank Johnson—whose began producing comic books years before our current history books say the genre debuted in the U.S. And there’s much more in this column! We are celebrating “outsider” artists, as well, by including a tribute to the Appalachian gourd artist Minnie Black—complete with a brief video of Minnie’s now-famous “all gourd band.” Please, enjoy this column and share it with friends.

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Challenges in accurately covering religion

Friends at IARJ and MSU Bias Busters want to help

THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS AT THE International Association of Religion Journalists, we can share this new IARJ column about two major studies of the portrayal of religion in news media and the entertainment industry more broadly. A coalition of nonprofit groups internationally is working to improve the accuracy and balance of religion’s role in media. Thanks to India-based journalist Uday Basu, chairman of the IARJ board, for posting this column with links to the studies.

AND THANKS TO JOE GRIMM and the Michigan State University Bias Busters for all of their work in producing more than 20 books to help combat bias with “100 Questions & Answers” on a wide range of minorities in our communities. You can see the entire MSU series of books here.

Holidays & Festivals

Eid al-Fitr

Cue the trays of sweet treats!

ACROSS THE U.S., most Muslims expect the Eid to start this year on the morning of Wednesday April 10—but global observances vary each year, due to regional sightings of the moon. Holidays columnist Stephanie Fenton has the story for us.

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

Click the movie poster to read Ed McNulty’s review of the new film, “Irena’s Vow.”

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:

IRENA’S VOW—Ed writes, “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.”
ORDINARY ANGELS—Ed recommends this faith-based drama.
ARTHUR THE KING—”Simon Cellan Jones bases his new film on the book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.”
PERFECT DAYS—Ed urges us not to miss Wim Wender’s Oscar-nominated film.
THE TASTE OF THINGS—Ed writes, “You do not have to be a Foodie to enjoy director Tran Anh Hung’s fabulous film about a French epicure and his female chef.”
DRIVING MADELEINE—Ed writes, “For me it is a delightful visual parable on the rewards of kindness.“
THE ZONE OF INTEREST—Ed gives 5 stars to this unusual and haunting Holocaust drama.