#5JoysFriday!
1. Leading an Advent retreat day at my church
2. Lunch with a good friend
3. Tree is finally up and decorated—with lots of ornaments that bring memories and joy!
4. Roses from the garden
5. Grand-niece‘s preschool Christmas program 💚
pickWhen the author found hundreds of tracings of feet in her grandparents‘ attic she had to ask: why? The story of how Europeans, who were starving and homeless, sent patterns to America asking for shoes is moving and powerful. Her grandparents organized a relief effort touching thousands of people with their kindness. Original patterns and old photos add to the story. Two of the people they became close with went on to win the Nobel Prize.
*Not the tagged book* Embracing the Unknown, a short audiobook featuring Pema Chödrön, explores how awareness of death can help people live more fully and courageously in the present. She delves into topics like the bardo (transitional states), rebirth as a moment-to-moment process, and practical ways to manage fear, grief, and uncertainty in everyday life.
Full Review abookandadog.com/blog/embracing-the-unknown
“I've been keeping informal track of ‘homie-propisms‘ at all the detention facilities where I celebrate the Eucharist. These are the moments when the homies get up to read and they'll come to an unfamiliar word and will supplant it with one they know rather than what it should be. Sometimes, it's the usual slipup. ‘A reading from the letter of Paul to the Phillipinos.‘ They don't know what a Gentile is… ⤵️
A day late but here it is! #JulyJazz #forgiveness
pick#Roll100
#OffMyShelf “Out of your comfort zone”
#14Books14Weeks
A good friend gave me this book, it‘s very much not what I usually read. But I‘m glad I did. There are no easy fixes or answers. Boyle asks only that we have compassion for our fellow humans.
“The strategy of Jesus is not centered in taking the right stand on issues, but rather in standing in the right place-with the outcast and those relegated to the margins.”
#whereReyoumonday
Reading very much out of my comfort zone, I‘m in East Los Angeles in the current century with Pastor Gregory Boyle and the congregants and residents of the area in this nonfiction account of Boyle‘s outreach efforts.
pickThis is a wonderful little guide for what to say and what not to say (and what to do/not to do) when someone is going through a hard thing. I‘m a medium, hospice volunteer and an abortion doula—and there is always something new I learn. A favorite word: Kummerspeck: grief bacon. It means, eating your feelings. We all experience Trauerklob sometimes; we must acknowledge it when others do to, but gently approach it. This book is great for ⬇️
