And readers already are sending enthusiastic thanks for author Jeffrey Munroe’s inspiring new book
COVER STORY: Our entire team of writers and editors is thankful this week for the shower of encouraging notes from early readers of author Jeffrey Munroe’s new Telling Stories in the Dark: Finding healing and hope in sharing our sadness, grief, trauma, and pain
His book is officially launching this week via Amazon in hardcover and paperback, as well as via Barnes & Noble, Walmart and other booksellers.
One of the warmest emails was from a therapist who had received a pre-publication copy and loves the book so much that she has decided to place a copy on the table in her waiting room. She emailed Jeff to tell him she’s now ordering more copies, because that book is so attractive that she knows some of her clients will want to take it home! She needs more copies to keep the book available on her table.
And, please, don’t simply take our word for it about the value of this book: We also are pleased to share a link with our ReadTheSpirit readers this week to veteran journalist Bill Tammeus’s review of Jeff’s book in which Bill calls this “an enormously helpful book.” Bill headlined his review: Confronting trauma not with explanations but with love
Want to read a sample? This is the first book in our new Reformed Journal Books imprint and that online magazine—The Reformed Journal—has published their own column heralding the book’s official publication-date this week. The Journal editors chose to provide a brief excerpt from Jeff’s book, headlined: The Thing with Feathers, which was Emily Dickinson’s famous description of “hope.”
Got more questions? Perhaps we’ve already asked Jeff a question that might be in your mind. Last week, we published this Q&A with Jeff, based on the kinds of questions folks have been raising as they have learned about the launch of this new book.
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From Our Authors—
Dr. David Gushee:
Best-selling ‘Changing Our Mind’ becomes ‘Cambiano nuestra mente’
THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES AROUND THE WORLD have been helped in reconciling with their LGBTQ loved ones through the inspiring message of Christian ethicist Dr. David Gushee in his best-selling book, Changing Our Mind. Now, in response to requests from Spanish-speaking Christians, his influential book is now available for pre-order in Spanish. Please read this week’s Front Edge Publishing column and share it with friends who might be interested in this news. In doing so, you just might be playing a small role in reuniting a family.
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MSU’s Joe Grimm and the Bias Busters:
‘Do Amish people shop at Walmart?’
IN 2024, the award-winning Bias Busters—a long-running program of the Michigan State University School of Journalism under the direction of MSU’s Joe Grimm—will be adding to their series of guides to understanding racial, ethnic and religious minorities.
Stay tuned to ReadTheSpirit and to Joe Grimm’s own Bias Busters columns for updates on new guides that will be appearing throughout 2024. (If you care about diversity issues, please use the “subscribe” box on that Bias Busters page to get the latest columns directly from Joe.)
In his latest column, this week, Joe previews the upcoming 100 Questions and Answers About Mennonites and the Amish. The answer to the question he raises—”Do Amish people shop at Walmart?”—will surprise you.
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Holidays, Festivals & Observances
Four Chaplains Day
ON FEBRUARY 3, each year, memorial services are held in communities nationwide to recall the four chaplains of various religious affiliations who sacrificed their lives to save as many soldiers and sailors as possible, after their WWII transport ship was hit by a torpedo. Our columnist Stephanie Fenton has this inspiring story, which is especially timely in 2024, when the FBI is reporting a rising tide of hate crimes across the U.S.
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Blue is the color of hope in March
COLORECTAL CANCER HAS TOUCHED MILLIONS OF LIVES and, in 2024, the latest news is ominous: Rates of these cancers are rising among adults in their 30s and 40s. In fact, an NBC News reports: “Colorectal cancer is the deadliest cancer for men under age 50—and the second deadliest cancer among women in the same age group, behind breast cancer. The incidence of colon cancer has been rising for at least the last two decades, when it was the fourth-leading cause of cancer death for both men and women under 50.”
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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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Click the movie poster to read Edward McNulty’s review of the new Mean Girls movie.
Faith & Film
Click on this image from the front cover of the January 2024 issue of Visual Parables Journal to learn more about this resource enjoyed by individuals and small groups nationwide.
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:
- THE BOOK OF CLARENCE—Ed writes, “Some have likened this film to Monty Python’s Life of Brian, but though satirical, it is not a spoof of the old Hollywood Biblical spectacles. Filmmaker Jeymes Samuel is interested in more serious concerns, such as racism and its effects.”
- MEAN GIRLS—Ed gives a strong thumbs up to this musical version of Tina Fey’s hit. He calls it “a fun-filled diversion.”
- THE SPITFIRE GRILL—Streaming on a number of services is this 1995 classic, which Ed highlights this week, telling some of the “backstory” of the film’s debut.
- GOD BLESS THE CHILD—Also streaming is this 1988 made-for-television movie about the ways families can easily slip below the poverty line and wind up without a home. Ed calls it one of the finest films about homelessness—truly “haunting”—that he’s seen over the years.
- A CALL TO SPY—Ed reaches back this week to a 2020 film, which is available to stream, calling it a “thrilling true story.”
- THE PERSIAN VERSION—Ed also recommends this film by Iranian-American Maryam Keshavarz.
- THE COLOR PURPLE—”Ghanaian filmmaker Samuel Bazawule brings to the screen this new version of Alice Walker’s classic novel of female empowerment.”
- MAESTRO—Ed gives Maestro 5 stars and writes, “Don’t let the silly controversy over Bradley Cooper’s nose sour you on this magnificent depiction of an unusual marriage between two brilliant people.”
- THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS and SNAKES—Ed praises this film for having “plenty of action” and also “a strong female protagonist.“
- RUSTIN—Ed writes, “The overlooked civil rights activist Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), often called the architect of the 1963 March on Washington, is finally getting his due, thanks to the new film directed by George C. Wolfe.”
- LAKAWANA BLUES—This week, Ed also recommends another film (this one from 2005) that he says fans of Rustin are sure to enjoy. (This HBO film is still streaming online.)
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