First: A Native Perspective on Water in Our Lives

THIS WEEK, CAROL TREMBATH writes: “For a long time, Native people have been viewed as the first environmentalists. Their ideals of caring for Mother Earth and her lifeblood water have always been at the forefront of their actions. However, today Mother Earth’s traumas have brought humanity to an environmental crossroads. How are Native people responding? In many ways! In our Cover Story this week, author Carol Trembath tells the story of how her own life as an educator and storyteller connected with a remarkable group of Native women known as the Mother Earth Water Walkers. Please, enjoy this cover story and share it with friends via social media and email.

Second: Families along Our Atlantic Shore

BENAJMIN PRATT writes this week from South Carolina about lessons we all can learn from our mammal cousins living along the Atlantic shore in that region. Have you ever heard of “strand feeding” among dolphins? Benjamin explains this remarkable behavior and even shares a video—plus a few questions for reflection. Please, share this story with friends as well.

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From Our Columnists—

Martin Davis

The Power of Local Communities in Publishing

‘ALL PUBLISHING IS LOCAL’—Media connections now circle the globe, but a powerful truth is that successful books depend on individuals in local communities choosing to read. Remembering this truth sometimes can help authors stir local interest in new books in one community after another. Our Front Edge Publishing column, this week, explains this principle and offers a brief national tour of local news stories about Martin Davis’s new 30 Days with America’s High School Coaches.

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Suzy Farbman

The Comfort of Furry Friends

IN HER GOD SIGNS COLUMN, this week, Suzy Farbman shares a remarkable story of feline friends who helped a family through traumatic life passages.

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Dr. David Gushee

Opportunities and Calls to Action

THIS WEEK, the leading Christian ethicist Dr. David Gushee made a series of newsy announcements, including a rare opportunity to register for an online webinar with him (with an early registration reduction in the price), plus a free podcast, plus a loud-and-clear call to action on combatting anti-Semitism. We have his open letter right here in our magazine, which includes links to all of these news items.

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Rodney Curtis

Goodbye, January!

RODNEY CURTIS pretty much says it for all of us as he offers this lament for a month of woes and snows—with a great big irrepressible smile at the end of his snowy road.

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Emily Brown

… and Speaking of the Deep, Deep Snow

WITH THE WINTER OLYMPICS STARTING THIS WEEK, Emily Brown writes about attacking that snow with all the gusto she can muster!

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Holidays & Festivals:

Four Chaplains Day

STEPHANIE FENTON writes this week about the “Four Chaplains” who inspired the world in 1943, during the worst of World War II, with their selfless sacrifice aboard a sinking ship.

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Spring is coming?

VASANT PANCHAMI is, indeed, a tradition in India that heralds the coming of spring. Stephanie Fenton has the story about this colorful festival.

 

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WANT TO SEE ALL 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:

• 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.”
• CASABLANCA—This is the 80th anniversary of the movie classic, so Ed reached back into his own archives and has posted this thoughtful column about the movie.
• A HERO—”Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has given us a very different film from his 2012 film, A Separation, the first Iranian film to win the Academy Award for best foreign language film. This new one centers on the divorced father of a stuttering boy whose life is turned upside down by social media. “
• AMEND: THE FIGHT FOR AMERICA—”This is an excellent primer on a US Constitutional amendment that often is overshadowed by debates over the First or the Second Amendment rights. Robe Imbriano, creator and co-writer of this 6-part TV miniseries takes us on a journey into the past that truly illuminates the present.”
• THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH—“Working without his brother this time, Joel Coen adapts and directs this new version of Shakespeare’s great tragedy of ambition overwhelming decency and leading to destruction.”
• AMERICAN UNDERDOG—”Brothers Andrew and John Erwin, adapting football player Kurt Warner’s same-titled memoir, American Underdog, have given us an underdog story to beat all such unlikely stories.”
• MUNICH: THE EDGE OF WAR—”In Christian Schwochow’s what-if movie, fact and fiction are mixed together in a compelling way. Based on the bestseller by Robert Harris, the film transports us to the halls of Whitehall and Munich in 1938 when Europe stood on the precipice of war.”
• LUCY—”Available on Amazon, This made for TV film will expand the story of Lucille Ball for those who enjoyed the recent Being the Ricardos.”
• BEING THE RICARDOS—”Writer-director Aaron Sorkin’s film  is a fascinating take on perhaps the most crucial week in the history of the I Love Lucy Show during its second season.”
• ENCANTO—“This time Disney transports us to the mountains of Columbia where the Madrigal family live in an enchanting village called the Encanto.”

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