Cover Story: We’re publishing what we all need in 2021—True Stories of Love, Resilience and Healing

Peacemaking in the face of violence

There’s Help and Inspiration on the Way!

YOU CAN PRE-ORDER, RIGHT NOW, SOME REMARKABLE NEW BOOKS. This week, Front Edge Publishing’s Susan Stitt, who works closely with all of our new authors, starts 2021 with a preview of upcoming titles. What amazes us, in light of events last week, is the prophetic timeliness of these books. In 2020, our authors and staff could foresee what Americans would want to read in early 2021—books that inspire hope and share practical paths toward peacemaking—but we had no idea how obvious this need would be to the whole world in early January.

Please, read this Cover Story now. Follow the links to order books that inspire you—or email us with inquiries about upcoming books that aren’t available yet online. Ask us about group orders and discuss these books with friends in your congregation or larger community. And, please, share this cover story with friends via social media. Each step you take to share this news potentially makes the world a little better place.

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World Religion Day

BAHA’IS’ PIONEERING ROLE AS INTERFAITH PEACEMAKERS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021—Stephanie Fenton writes, “Take a few moments to consider unity through diversity, joining Baha’is on this, the 70th observation of World Religion Day. Initiated in 1950, World Religion Day follows an essential tenet of the Baha’i religion: the belief that all religions are one, with each prophet or messenger delivering God’s truth for his time and place.”

AND—CHECK OUT OUR 2021 INTERFAITH CALENDAR

PLAN AHEAD—For the new year, we have a new format, which makes it easier for readers to make connections between great books—and the holidays, milestones and special seasons of the year. It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just visit  InterfaithHolidays.com

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What We Can Learn from the Power of Time

WE NEVER STOP GROWING … 

THE ANCIENT PSALMIST understood the power of time to reassure and empower us to build healthy communities. Psalm 90 says it clearly: “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” That’s why ReadTheSpirit magazine was launched in 2007 with a commitment to cover religious and cultural holidays and festivals as a part of our weekly issues.

And, over the past week, two major milestones remind us of this timeless truth. First was the death of British director Michael Apted, whose life was chronicled in a New York Times obituary. Among other great films, Apted created the 7Up series, documenting the lives of a group of children throughout their lives—since 1964. The Times calls this “the most profound documentary series in the history of cinema.”

Well, these days all of us can number our days, just as the Psalmist and Apted demonstrated. That’s why, this week, you don’t want to miss author and photographer Rodney Curtis’s tribute to life and love even in the midst of COVID. And, yes, you’ll want to share this with friends.

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The January 2021 issue of Visual Parables Journal is now available. Please click this image from the Journal cover to learn 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. A DANGEROUS LIFEEd begins this week by reaching back to 1988 to recommend a gripping documentary about events surrounding the 1986 Philippine People Power Revolution. His review includes a direct link to watch the entire film on YouTube.
  2. GUN AND A HOTEL BIBLE—Ed writes, “This is a delightful blend of fantasy and religion of which I think the author of The Screwtape Letters would approve. How often have you noticed or paid attention, during your stay overs at a hotel or motel, to one of those black-bound books on a table or in the drawer with stationery and tourist information? Imagine if one of those Bibles could talk about its effect on one of the occupants of the room—and you have this film, based on the play by Bradley Gosnell and Daniel Floren.”
  3. MANK—Ed writes, “I love films about filmmaking, and David Fincher’s Mank, centering on Herman J. Mankiewicz the co-writer of Citizen Kane, is no exception. Based on a script by Jack Fincher, the director’s late father, the film has scintillating dialogue that is as delightful to the ear as the repartee in the madcap comedies popular during the period of the story, the mid 30s to 1940. And Erik Messerschmidt’s crisp B&W photography certainly evokes that bygone era.”
    1. RELATED: CITIZEN KANE—As an added bonus, Ed has published a column about Citizen Kane, which is a central part of the Mank movieAnd, there’s much more …
    2. RKO 281—Ed writes, “Even as the NetFlix film Mank gives us more of Herman Mankiewicz’s version of the writing of Citizen Kane, this HBO film gives Orson Welles far more credit for its authorship.
    3. CRADLE WILL ROCK—Because of the interest in Orson Welles raised by Netflix’s Mank, we reach back to the March 2000 issue of Visual Parables for this film in which Welles is an important part of Broadway history.”
    4. THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTHEd also recommends a unique, brief TV production by Welles titled The Fountain of Youth. The program was shown once in 1958 as a pilot that was never picked up by the networks. Nevertheless, it won a prestigious Peabody Award that year and it is now available on YouTube via a link that Ed provides.
  4. MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM—Ed writes, “In this adaptation of an August Wilson play, Denzel Washington (who in 2016 directed and starred in Fences), remains behind the camera this time as executive producer. But, his Fences co-star Viola Davis is very much front and center as the title character, a real life Blues singer, one of the first Black women to cut a record in the early 20th Century. The film is also outstanding because not only does her co-star Chadwick Boseman rise to her superb level of performance, it will forever be known as his last screen appearance. Even setting aside the film’s social significance, this is a film not to be missed!”
  5. THE LAST CHAMPION—Ed writes, “The Last Champion is truly a family film at both ends, from inception to viewing. Families will enjoy its coming of age aspect, sports thrills, and redemptive arc.
  6. NEWS OF THE WORLD—Ed writes, “Like Unforgiven, Paul Greengrass’ News of the World is an unconventional Western. Oh, there is are sections of violent gun play, but these are secondary to other themes, such as human relationships, the need for belonging, and the importance of “news” for connection to a world larger than our own narrow existence. Adapted by director and Luke Davies from the 2016 novel by Paulette Jiles, the film provides Tom Hanks with a great opportunity to display his acting ability, an opportunity of which he takes full advantage! It also introduces many of us to a delightful young German actress Helena Zengel.”
  7. BEYOND THE WALL—Directed by the late Jenny Phillips and telecast in 2018, this documentary was part of the PBS series America Reframed. This series of well over 100 independent films for several years invited us each week to look at many overlooked aspects of our nation. This episode from the series reveals many of the difficulties that confront newly released prisoners, especially those (a majority) wresting with drug addiction.”
  8. THE MAN WITHOUT GRAVITY—”The Man Without Gravity is an Italian magical-realist tale from first-time narrative filmmaker Marco Bonfanti. In the film, he whimsically tells the story of Oscar (Elio Germano) from his incredible birth, through childhood, and ultimate reunion with his childhood sweetheart Agata. This delightful escapist film about an outsider has plenty of flaws but none that ought to spoil your enjoyment.”
  9. THE CROODS: A NEW AGE—”Director Joel Crawford’s film, the second in the series about a Stone Age family, is an amusing tale of culture clash and the need for solidarity. Just as I loved the first film almost seven years ago, The Croods, I recommend this one too. It provides both escapist fare for the whole family and, like the first film, teaches some worthy life lessons.”
  10. THE BREAD WINNER—”Irish director Nora Twomey, who co-directed the exquisitely beautiful The Secret of Kells, launches out on her own with the gorgeously animated film set in Kabul in 2001 on the cusp of America’s invasion in retaliation for the attack on the Twin Towers. With its theme of the Taliban’s oppression of women, the film will remind some of another similarly themed film, though set in Iran, Persepolis.”

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