Cover Story: Spiritual director and chaplain Tom Stella’s new book points us toward being ‘In Sync with the Sacred’

‘We Are Caregivers’

‘Pain Is Inevitable—Suffering Is an Option’

PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL ADVICE—Regular readers of our online magazine know Tom Stella’s work from our coverage of his earlier books CPR for the Soul and Finding God Beyond Religion. After many years serving as a Catholic priest, Stella refocused his vocation as a spiritual counselor and chaplain to individuals and groups. As the years have passed, his concept of the Divine has grown beyond traditional religious boundary lines—even as his spiritual advice to us has become ever-more practical. Now in his 70s, Tom’s new book is 11 chapters packed with hard-earned wisdom with chapter-titles that include: Life Is Not a One-Piece Puzzle and We Are More Than Our Limp. With Tom’s permission we are sharing here an abridged version of one of the book’s richest chapters: Pain Is Inevitable—Suffering Is an Option. Please share this insightful and inspiring chapter with friends.

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Holidays & Festivals

Join millions of Americans reading about LGBTQ diversity in Pride Month 

For Pride Month, Susan Stitt tells the story of Front Edge Publishing’s long-standing commitment to LGBTQ inclusivity. This is part of our over-arching commitment to encouraging the appreciation of diversity in all forms, including racial, religious and cultural diversity. As Susan tells the story, she highlights some of the best books on LGBTQ inclusion that are used today in small groups nationwide.

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Meet New Friends on National Best Friends Day

YOU’LL HEAR ABOUT THIS ONE. No, this isn’t an official civic holiday, but June 8 has taken hold as National Best Friends Day among the nation’s retailers so you’ll be seeing lots of promotions from re-opening restaurants (take a friend to lunch!) and florists (send your friend a bouquet!) and of course candy makers (you know what to do with candy!) Well, as publishers, we want to highly recommend a group of dozens of friends whose stories you’ll enjoy for weeks! Hop over to Amazon right now and pick up a copy of Friendship & Faith. Each chapter is a true story from a woman who dared to cross a boundary—and discovered a new friend on the other side.

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Sacred Heart of Jesus

ON FRIDAY JUNE 11, millions of Catholics around the world will prayerfully reflect on the divine love of Jesus in a tradition known as The Sacred Heart. Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton has the story.

 

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Recalling Guru Arjan Dev Sahib

IN MID-JUNE, the world’s Sikh community will recall the life and the martyrdom of Guru Ajan Dev Sahib. In Sikh tradition, this guru is revered in part because he compiled the teaching-scriptures that form the core of the Sikh faith to this day, known as the Adi Granth. Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton has the story.

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WANT TO SEE ALL THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just visit  InterfaithHolidays.com

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From Our Authors

Suzy Farbman: How 2 art professionals spoofed the art world

‘ART HIJACK’—That’s what Elana Eda Rubinfeld and Trong Gia Nguyen called their large-scale spoof of the art world’s obsession with rare—and even stolen—artworks. Suzy Farbman tells this delightful story in her GodSigns column this week.

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Larry Buxton: Meeting David again … for the first time

BIBLE SCHOLAR and LEADERSHIP COACH LARRY BUXTON has been planning for months to offer a rich array of resources to the millions of churchgoers who—on Sunday June 13—will begin hearing the ancient story of David’s anointing from I Samuel Chapter 16. Those “lectionary” readings about David will continue in thousands of churches for a couple of months—so, Larry has a whole series of great videos ready to enrich our experience of those stories from the Hebrew scriptures. But, wait! There’s even more! To warm folks to this epic story, Larry has added yet another new video that represents a kind of prequel about King Saul, titled Being Confident, Being Different. Thanks Larry! Please, share these links with friends.

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David Gushee: Stop by my new home

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED CHRISTIAN ETHICIST David P. Gushee has launched a new online home: DavidPGushee.com The new website is designed to offer lots of resources visitors can enjoy individually, share with friends and even use to spark discussion in their small groups or classes. You won’t want to miss these options:

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MINDY CORPORON: Please meet me (virtually) at Miami University’s Interfaith Center

THANKS to THE INTERFAITH CENTER at MIAMI UNIVERSITY in Ohio, Mindy Corporon will appear on the evening of Tuesday, June 15, for an online event about her timely new book, Healing a Shattered Soul. ReadTheSpirit online magazine was founded to encourage and celebrate religious and cultural diversity so we also want to encourage this Interfaith Center’s work. Please click here to visit EventBrite and register for this free virtual event—and please tell friends about this. (Care to learn more about Mindy’s inspiring online work? Here’s an earlier story we published about her talks via streaming video. Mindy brings such a welcome, up-lifting and practical response to the violence around us that we encourage everyone to experience her ongoing work.)

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CLICK ON THIS COVER IMAGE from the June 2021 issue of Visual Parables Journal to learn more about this new issue of Ed McNulty’s guide to discussing films from the perspective of faith. This new issue includes complete discussion guides to Burning Cane, The One I Love, Spirit Untamed and The Reunited States of America—plus much more.

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:

  1. SPIRIT UNTAMED—Ed writes, “DreamWorks Animation’s directors Elaine Bogan and Ennio Torresan have given families an enjoyable new film that should please the young and old with life messages conveyed in a non-preachy way. Our daughters will especially take to this film with its affirmation of sisterhood.”
  2. BURNING CANE—”Writer-director Phillip Youmans’ feature film debut will test the patience of those who like action films because his film is more character-driven than plot propelled. Set in rural Louisiana, the film explores alcoholism, spouse abuse, child neglect, faith and the African American church, and the failure of even love to save a lost soul.”
  3. THE REUNITED STATES OF AMERICA—”Director Ben Rekhi’s irenic documentary, based on on Mark Gerzon’s nonfiction book The Reunited States of America: How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide, is in itself a hopeful sign at a time of so much strife and despair.”
  4. BLUE MIRACLE—”Director Julio Quintana and his co-screenwriter Chris Dowling have just the tonic for movie lovers who might be a bit down in the dumps. Their Big Fish story, based on real people and a 2014 Mexican fishing competition is a formulaic sports story sure to raise your spirits—and with several of the characters children, a film the whole family can enjoy.”
  5. THE ONE I LOVE—The old question ‘Can this marriage be saved?’ runs throughout director Charlie McDowell’s 2014 film about a couple trying to regain the flame of the love that had brought them together.
  6. THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER—”Writer/director Osgood Perkins (son of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins) makes a worthy addition to the horror sub-genre of the exorcism film in this chilling tale of the supernatural.
  7. UNDERGROUND RAILROADEd McNulty gives us a comprehensive review of the new Amazon-streaming series, The Underground Railroad. He writes, “Barry Jenkins, who brilliantly captured the essence of James Baldwin’s polemical novel exposing the racism of our justice system, If Beale Street Could Talk, soars to even greater heights in this adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning The Underground Railroad.”
  8. 2 WINDOWS/2 REVIEWS—If you read both of these reviews, you will discover the dramatic possibilities of a simple idea that has been explored by filmmakers for more than a century: What happens when we look out a window—and see what our neighbors are doing? First, Ed reviews The Woman in the Window, starring Amy Adams, a thriller that has been compared to Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Then, Ed reaches back to 2019 and reviews a short film, The Neighbor’s Window, which takes a very different approach to a similar dramatic situation.
  9. FANNY’S JOURNEY—Ed writes, “Director Lola Doillon’s thrilling film, set during the Nazi occupation of the northern part of France, was inspired by an autobiographical Israeli book by Fanny Ben Ami.
  10. BILL CAIN and THE DIARY OF JESUS CHRISTEd is offering a multimedia treat for our readers. On the occasion of Bill Cain’s new book The Diary of Jesus Christ, Ed reviews and recommends that book. IN ADDITION, Ed hosted Cain for a 41-minute Zoom interview that you can also enjoy at the end of the book review.

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