The loss of 6 million has sorely tested our spiritual resources

COVER STORY—As we pass the two-year anniversary of the COVID pandemic, we invited hospital chaplain Daniel Kidder-McQuown to reflect on how his own spiritual insights have evolved. First, Dan tells us about his own journey, which has strengthened his spiritual resolve around a half dozen timeless truths. This column is headlined, Summoning spiritual resiliency after two years of coping with COVID.

AND, A REFLECTION IN POETRY. This week, Daniel also has written a reflection in poetry that you may want to read and share with friends. He calls it, ‘Pandemic Saints.’

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From our authors—

Lucille Sider:

When disaster strikes, our resilience is rebuilt with helping hands

LUCILLE SIDER writes this week about giving—and receiving—friendly help when we face the inevitable traumas that hit us in life. Please, read her column and share it with friends.

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David Gushee:

Ethicists united against Russia’s war

THIS WEEK, Dr. David Gushee, the noted Christian ethicist and author of the new Introduction to Christian Ethics, posted on his own website the full statement issued by Ethicists without Borders on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beyond describing the invasion as “as a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, and as war crimes,” this statement has sparked widespread discussion among religious and community leaders. In his column, Dr. Gushee explains how he personally would like to see the statement broadened. It’s an important text for sparking individual reflection and group discussion.

In addition, Dr. Gushee invites his readers to join him in a Zoom this week with folks from Glastonbury Abby, based in Wisconsin. The two-hour Zoom will be held this Thursday evening, March 17, and participants can request access until noon on that day from this web page.

 

Larry Buxton:

The Zelenskyy in You

LARRY BUXTON’S LEADING WITH SPIRIT VIDEO, this week, reflects on the surprising rise of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy—who seems to have been destined for his heroic role as the Churchill-like leader of his nation’s long-shot resistance to the mighty forces of Russia.

AND FOR THE WRITERS and EDITORS among us: Are you wondering whether Zelensky has 1 or 2 y’s at the end of his name? Writers and copy editors at countless news organizations are wondering the same thing. This Washington Post column goes a long way to explaining the issue.

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John Harnish

E. Stanley Jones’ message of hope speaks to us today

OUR LONGTIME FRIEND scholar, pastor and author Robert D. Cornwell has published a thoughtful review of John Harnish’s new book, 30 Days with E. Stanley Jones. 

Cornwell’s new review appears at his own online home, Ponderings on a Faith Journey. Cornwell writes, “Jones’s message is as pertinent today as it was when he was alive and active in his ministry.”

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Holidays and Festivals

Purim: From fasting to festivities

HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS COLUMNIST Stephanie Fenton reports on preparations for the Jewish festival of Purim, which unfolds on March 16, this year.

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St. Patrick’s Day

FAMILIES WITH IRISH ROOTS, wherever they may live around the world, will be celebrating St. Patrick soon along with others who also revere this saint’s legacy. Part of that legacy is a prayer known as the Breastplate. Stephanie Fenton’s column includes links to several versions of that popular prayer.

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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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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:

• BUTTER—“Virtually all teenagers have felt isolated and hopeless at times, if not by the obesity of the film’s Butter (Alex Kersting), then by some other difference that makes them feel judged and rejected by peers,” Ed writes in recommending this film.
• DEATH ON THE NILE—”He’s back, that French detective with a mustache so large that it could be regarded as a fire hazard. Just as he was a passenger in 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, so Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is again a passenger, but this time on a luxury paddle boat a few hundred miles south—the Nile River.”
• DRIVE MY CAR—”This film of bereavement and guilt was adapted by director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and co-writer Takamasa Oe from a short story of the same name by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.”
• BREAKING BREAD—Central to documentarian Beth Elise Hawk‘s film is Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel—the first Muslim Arab to win Israel’s MasterChef on the TV show MasterChef Israel. In fact, Ed’s main criticism of the movie is that he wishes it was longer to showcase more of the festival!
• CYRANO—Ed urges us not to miss the new version of the Cyrano story, starring Peter Dinklage. He also likes the musical additions. “The film’s songs do not pop out and burn themselves into your memory, but thy do add poetry to the play and enhance greatly the drama,” he writes.
• THE STATION AGENT—Seeing Dinklage in Cyrano, inspires Ed to reach back and republish his review of the quirky 2003 film, The Station Agent. If you enjoy stories about “outsiders” learning to connect with others, then you’ll love this film, Ed writes.
• LINCOLN’S DILEMMA—Ed praises the new four-part series about Lincoln and Frederick Douglas that just debuted on Apple TV+
• SUNDOWN—Mexico’s Michel Franco’s new film challenges viewers to figure out their feelings toward its troubled main characters.
• BINTI—Ed McNulty writes, “Tanzanian director and writer Seko Shamte, with fellow writer Angela Ruhinda, decries the plight of four women whose stories are loosely connected by their gender that leaves them almost powerless in a male-dominated society. The title means ‘young woman’ in Swahili.”
• LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM—”The setting of this film is indeed exotic, but the theme of welcoming friendship and the transforming power of love and respect is universal.”

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