Most of us pray—but few of us pray with this much patience for strangers

COVER STORY: This week, Howard Brown—author of the inspiring memoir Shining Brightly—shares a true story of what unfolded in a small Jewish congregation in a Queens neighborhood where the faithful simply refused to give up praying for a soul endangered by life-threatening cancer.

This is a story you’re certain to want to share with friends, so please use the social media sharing buttons provided at both the “top” and “bottom” of this column—friends will appreciate this boost of inspiration.

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And in other inspirational news—

 

Jeffrey Munroe: ‘Stories in the Dark …
and Psalms in the summer sun’ 

READERS ASK: “Do you publish poetry?” Well, of course we do! Poetry is at the heart of the world’s scriptures. Today, we celebrate with our author Jeffrey Munroe that his poem GLORY was chosen as a poetry selection this month by the editors of the venerable Christian Century magazine.

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And Jeffrey on: ‘What might a prophet say …‘

IN HIS LONG CAREER in ministry, teaching, preaching and journalism, Jeffrey Monroe—Editor of The Reformed Journal—has become a sought-after resource for other teachers, preachers and writers on tough subjects—like What a prophet might say about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump?

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Rabbi Bob Alper on Bob Newhart:

It takes a comic to mourn a comic

THE 127-YEAR-OLD FORWARD magazine turned to standup comic and author Bob Alper to help mourn the passing of standup pioneer Bob Newhart. (In fact, Newhart used to tell audiences, “I was a standup comic before we were called ‘standup’—because, you know, sometimes I like to sit down.”) Here is Bob Alper’s tribute to Newhart, headlined: When Bob Newhart was my rabbi — and I was his.

To learn more about Bob Alper’s wit and wisdom in book form, check out his Amazon author page.

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Joe Grimm:

Scholars and teachers help to preserve the treasures of the endangered Hmong language

IN RECENT WEEKS, regular readers have seen a series of stories about Hmong communities, transplanted to America after the end of the Vietnam War, since the Hmong were American allies in that conflict and then became refugees. This summer, Joe Grimm’s Bias Busters project at the Michigan State University School of Journalism, published the first book for general readers to introduce this culturally rich group of Americans with 100 Questions and Answers, including videos. This week, Joe writes about nationwide efforts among educators to preserve this endangered language. The regional locations of these efforts may surprise you, because significant efforts are coming from the heart of the Midwest.

 

 

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Holidays & Festivals.

 

 

Selassie’s 132nd birthday

AS STEPHANIE FENTON REPORTS, we are likely to see more celebrations of Haile Selassie’s birthday on July 23 this year because of awareness of the Rastafari movement from the recent feature film, Bob Marley: One Love. Care to learn more? Stephanie’s column includes a link to Ed McNulty’s review of the Marley biopic.

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Tammuz 17 and the Three Weeks

THIS WEEK, STEPHANIE also writes about annual Jewish observances starting in late July in 2024 to remember and mourn historical misfortunes of the Jewish people.

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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 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 LONG GAME—Ed urges us to see this inspiring true story of a groundbreaking team of young Latino golfers.
• A QUIET PLACE: DAY 1—Ed likes this prequel even though he initially was skeptical about the quality of a third film in this francise.
• DADDIO—”Writer-director Christy Hall’s film, shot almost entirely within the confines of a NYC Yellow Cab, pulls off a seemingly impossible task—keeping us interested entirely by means of a conversation that moves from the casual to the intimate.”
• FRESH—Ed also suggests we look back this week to a 1994 film set in Brooklyn that many of us may have overlooked.
• HORIZON, Chapter 1—“I wish Kevin Costner could redo this as a cable series.”
• TUESDAY—”First-time director Daina O. Pusic serves up an adult fairytale about Death.”
• SHIRLEY—”Just as Bayard Rustin was a neglected Civil Rights leader until Netflix presented Rustin, so has US Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm been relegated to the sidelines since her death in 2005.” Netflix aims to change that.
• STORM WARNING—Ed suggests that we might want to look back to this 1950 film about the KKK to see how badly Hollywood “got it wrong” in that era.
• THELMA—“It is a delight to come across another film with an elderly person as the main character, showing that life does not end at 80.”
• GHOSTLIGHT—“Who would have thought that a group rehearsing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet would have such a profound effect upon a grieving man not even familiar with the play?”

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