A SURVIVOR WITH PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE TO HELP OTHERS

MEET LUCILLE SIDER—Not a week passes without the discovery of long-hidden sexual abuse in front-page headlines. Most Americans now know someone wrestling with the aftermath of such abuse—often for many decades. In this week’s Cover Story, we tell you how to reach out to someone who can help: author, counselor, minister and teacher Lucille Sider.

Right now, Lucille Sider—a clinical psychologist and clergywoman based in the Chicago area—is scheduling appearances with groups nationwide to encourage constructive small-group discussions. Contrary to myth, such trauma does not fade away with the passage of time. Lucille herself is a survivor both of childhood abuse—and the crippling psychological effects of years of secrecy. In her new book Light Shines in the Darkness, she tells her own remarkable story of overcoming both abuse and the debilitating effects of that trauma—coupled with professional insights to help survivors. She even includes a complete discussion guide for small groups in the last 10 pages of her book.

This week, our Cover Story about Lucille’s book, and her ongoing work, appears in our Front Edge Publishing website, where we have gathered many resources highlighting the importance of Lucille’s work—and the value of sharing this news with others. You can take action right now to organize a discussion in your community. Please read this story and share this resource with friends. Someone you know will benefit from meeting Lucille through her book and ongoing work.

See Dr. David Gushee on CNN

CNN HOST DON LEMON ran out of air time while interviewing Dr. David Gushee about Franklin Graham’s attack on a gay presidential candidate. So, Lemon told Dr. Gushee that he would invite him back to talk further about these issues. However, in the few minutes the two men were able to talk on the live talk show, Dr. Gushee was able to make a powerful rebuttal of Graham’s condemnation of LGBTQ Christians. Many of our readers heard about the broadcast online—but missed its original airing. They emailed our main office, asking for links to the video clip. Well, here’s that CNN video clip, and we’ve also included the text of some of Dr. Gushee’s most important comments.

Need a Life Lesson?

WE’VE GOT BOOKS FOR THAT! Thanks to Australian journalist Zak Parker for including one of our books in his new list of 17 Books Filled with Life Lessons for the online magazine Fupping. Zak writes: “By reading books, especially non-fiction books, we can pick apart the author’s brain and actually learn from their experiences. There’s no exaggeration in saying that by reading these books you can learn valuable life lessons to apply to your own.” His list includes Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven—plus Rabbi Bob Alper’s funny-and-inspirational stories in Life Doesn’t Get Any Better than This. Want a copy of Bob’s book? It’s available right now via Amazon.

Dr. Esperanto and the Language of Hope

HAVE YOU DISCOVERED this language created in the late 1800s by a creative eye doctor in eastern Europe who dreamed of a way for all the world’s diverse cultures to communicate with each other? It’s called Esperanto, which was the nom de plume the ophthalmologist used when he published his introductory volume in 1887. The word means “one who hopes.” Now, a very talented team from Candlewick Press has published a delightful picture book, which just might introduce a whole new generation to this unusual strategy for achieving world peace. Please read David Crumm’s review of the book—and you’ll be likely to order a copy for yourself, or someone you love.

HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS

YOM HASHOAH

SUNDOWN, SUNDAY MAY 1—The traditional Israeli remembrance of the Holocaust—and the many heroes who risked or lost their lives in that era—comes at a moment when hate crimes are on the rise around the world. Our story about Yom HaShoah also includes a link to a remarkable column in a British newspaper, calling for a new interfaith coalition of groups to stem the tide of extremist violence.

ISRAELI MEMORIAL AND INDEPENDENCE DAY—Commemorations in Israel begin at sunset on Tuesday, May 7, this year, for Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut. In the Israeli calendar, Memorial Day (or Yom HaZikaron) is followed by the celebration of Independence Day (or Yom Ha’atzmaut), as a way to begin the celebration of freedom with a day-long solemn remembrance of the cost of that freedom.

Click the image to read our Ramadan story.

RAMADAN

Already, Muslim families are planning ahead for the many changes they will experience in the fasting month of Ramadan. This observance follows a lunar calendar and continues to move “earlier” each year. In addition, the start of Ramadan often varies, based on sightings of the moon around the world. The best estimate of the starting evening in 2019 is Monday, May 5—with the first full day of fasting on Monday, May 6. Enjoy our Ramadan story and share it with friends.

Beltaine and Samhain

CELEBRATE SPRING—May 1 is the Pagan and Wiccan festival of Beltane, a joyous festival that celebrates the renewal and bounty of nature. Beltane (or Samhain, in the southern hemisphere) falls on a date approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

Screen Free Week

MEET THE AUTHOR of Sadie Sees Trouble, Linda Jarkey, a veteran educator and author who is planning one of the many events around the world that coincide with the 2019 observance of Screen Free Week: April 29 through May 5. The organizers stress that the week is supposed to be an exciting adventure: “An hour once dedicated to YouTube becomes an hour spent outside; a movie on a rainy afternoon is replaced by time spent reading, chatting, or playing pretend!” On May 3, Linda will be presenting a program about her Sadie book, which also stresses the need to limit “screens,” at an elementary school in Hazel Park, Michigan. You can mark Screen Free Week by getting your own copy of Sadie.

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 discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Among Ed’s free reviews and columns are:

Click on the movie still to read Ed’s review.

BEST OF ENEMIES—This new film has its flaws, Ed writes, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. However, it’s still a powerful drama, he concludes, based on the Osha Gray Davidson’s book, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South. The film is based on Davidson’s true story of a KKK leader and an African American activist who slowly became friends during the racial crisis in Durham, North Carolina, in 1971. Ed writes: “It is a tale so unlikely that had this been a novel, it would have been rejected as unrealistic.”
AVENGERS: ENDGAME—Headline news reports already are heralding a record box office for this three-hour Marvel epic. Ed reviews the movie and gives it 4 stars.
GLORIA BELL—Ed describes this new film starring Julianne Moore to feeling like a female-focused version of the classic Zorba the Greek. (4 out of 5 stars)
APOLLO 11—Ed writes, “Documentarian Todd Douglas Miller’s film provides the viewer with a you-are-there feeling in this chronicle of the history making moon mission.” (5 stars)
MARY MAGDALENE—Australian director Garth Davis gives us a fresh take on the life of the most famous woman among Jesus’s followers. Davis got some things right—and other plot twists are wrong, writes Ed. (4 stars)
THE PUBLIC—Ed writes: “Director-writer Emilio Estevez gives us a delightful visual parable of justice and creative resistance to ‘the principalities and powers.’ If you enjoyed his thoughtful films Bobby and The Way, you will appreciate this film dealing with issues of homelessness, media exploitation, and decision making under pressure.” (4.5 stars)
HOTEL MUMBAI—This film about a 2008 terrorist attach in Mumbai is definitely harrowing, but also fascinating, says Ed. (4.5 stars)
THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND—If you’ve got access to Netflix, then you can watch this terrific film today. Ed gives it 5 out of 5 stars and urges us not to miss it.