EVEN IN CAMBRIDGE - Reflect

December 2021 In Review

12/8/2021

DECEMBER 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Write

Cultural Infusion
by Caroline Stowell

I am thrilled to announce that today my writing was published for the first time ever. Please toggle over to The Other Journal to read my essay Cultural Infusion, which is part of my memoir in progress called I Can’t See Where You’re Leading Me. I am incredibly grateful to... (keep reading here).

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

August 2021 In Review

8/31/2021

AUGUST 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

A Survey of Summer Reading and Lessons that are Never Too Late to Learn

Why read books that plunk you down right in the middle of the worst events in history? Isn’t the news bad enough? Why suffer more? As I reflected on several books I read this month, I was reminded of why we should put ourselves through it: The emotional experience of art draws empathy, and the attention to detail breathes life into those whose dying wish was to be remembered.

Write

Men We Reaped

Jesmyn Ward’s memoir provides a personal look of the larger story of the inequities and injustices of growing up Black in the South, in her community in Mississippi, as she explores the question of why her brother died while she lived. My writing class read this book collectively, in order to learn more about the memoir craft. Here is a summary of our summer lessons.

Discuss

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue

Overall, people really liked this one, even though we were a little stumped by some of the terms of the deal Addie made with the devil. As we followed Addie on her quest for freedom, we enjoyed reimagining what that looked like, ultimately concluding that the answer lies in self-expression.

Pray

Rain, and a vaccine

While walking my dog this month, I reflected on my prayer requests from last summer, how they had been answered, and how intimidated I was to ask for anything more.

Serve

Code Talker

During our end of summer road trip to the Grand Canyon, I came across the memoir of the last original Navajo code talker from World War II. What was even more incredible than reading about how this spoken code secured victory in the Pacific, was learning the tremendous sacrifice and courage of a group of people who weren’t even treated like American citizens, who, with their actions, redefined what it means to serve one’s country.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

July 2021 In Review

7/31/2021

JULY 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

We Ride Upon Sticks

Yes, this is a book about a high school girls’ field hockey team that dabbles in the occult. It’s also an examination of racism and classism in the Boston suburbs in the late 1980s. “Stick” with this one. By the end, you’ll be yelling with the girls: “Field field field!” and “Hockey hockey hockey!”

Write

How did you come to the word?

A few weeks ago, my writing instructor asked an icebreaker question that threw me for a loop. Maybe I tend to overthink things in general, but in the end, I enjoyed what I had to discover about what drew me to writing. How would you explain what inspires you?

Discuss

The Duke Who Didn’t

We read this independently published romance last winter when we were in search of a lighter read, although we agreed that we accidentally went a little too light. No, it isn't going to win any awards, but we were mildly entertained, mildly moved and only mildly scarred. Ms. Milan got readers, and we got a laugh. So I think it was a win win all around. If you missed this one, don’t worry, just go on to the next title on your beach read list!

Pray

Summer Blast 2021: Press Play and Get in the Mix

Once again, our church put on a phenomenal virtual Vacation Bible School program. Unfortunately, my kids had trouble getting into it this year, perhaps completely spent on virtual programming. Still, they were thrilled and captivated by some of the teaching buried within. We hope you and your kids can enjoy the fresh perspective and laughs of...the So & So Show!

Serve

Might be late for dinner; have to call 911

A day trip to the Rockies game from my parents’ house seemed doable. We weren’t counting on the monsoon on the return to the mountains...or our SUV completely losing power. At the end of the day, I realized how many people I wanted to thank for helping us make it home in one piece.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

June 2021 In Review

6/30/2021

JUNE 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

This was perhaps not the book to read during the busiest spring season our family has ever had. Talk about a humbling reminder to slow down. And yet, the reason for slowing down was new to me. I have read dozens of books about the teachings of Jesus, but this is the first that spoke on Jesus’s lifestyle -- how he could be as satisfied with solitude as he was while slacking off with sinners. Pick up a copy and discover that Jesus himself has an MO.

Write

I Must Be Dreaming: GrubStreet’s Memoir Incubator

Are you a dreamer? I mean, do you have vivid dreams at night that you remember in the morning? Or actually, is there something in your life that you’ve always wanted to do? Dreams like this -- both kinds -- came alive for me this spring. They were unexpected and freaked me out, but in a good way. And they have me eager for more.

Discuss

Transcendent Kingdom

This is the kind of book that makes writers jealous. Though I was raised evangelical and studied neuroscience and have asked many of the questions that Gifty wrestles with, the similarities stop there. A timely portrait that addresses the complexity within issues that loud voices insist are black and white, Gyasi’s highly original story deepens with every page as she weaves layers of richness that challenge us to consider what matters most -- both to Gifty, and in our own lives.

Pray

The Bible Challenge 2021

After a sluggish spiritual season marked by waning church attendance, I appreciated our family pastor’s reminder to not let time pass us by. Our second grader had mastered reading. It was time to present him with the greatest book of all time. But first, he had some work to do.

Serve

Misión de Caridad

This past spring I found myself in good company with friends and neighbors searching for a way out of the pandemic, though apprehensive about what this change would mean for our families and for ourselves. As I sank into the disappointments accrued over the past year, I reconnected with this organization and discovered a potential new path that might connect my goals with theirs.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

May 2021 In Review

5/31/2021

MAY 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Everything Sad is Untrue

This month I was hoping to grace the world with my first official publication, a story of my friendship with an Iranian Muslim mom, but fortunately, since my submission didn’t pan out, Daniel Nayeri has a much, much better memoir for you. Please read his book and be humbled by the faith of his own Iranian Muslim-turned-Christian mother.

Write

Parachutes

The friend who recommended this book is right: it addresses some really big issues both for girls and women and for certain cultural groups. I’m just not sure I’d give this YA book to anyone under the age of 18. Is it just me, or is our reading culture becoming much more aggressive and explicit in the subject matter it tackles? Here’s my take on how to temper our portion control.

Discuss

The Vanishing Half

We all found this story incredibly engrossing. My favorite character was Desiree, but the rest of you said, hands down, that yours was Jude, whom we admired for her steadfast acceptance of who she was in the midst of great antagonism and racism. A fascinating inquiry on what it means to be successful and how characters are able or unable to separate that from attaining whiteness, this book is definitely one to try.

Pray

Adventure Awaits: Mother Daughter Retreat

After a year hiatus, my daughter and I returned to Camp Berea for a weekend retreat, where once again she challenged me with her questions, and I realized all over again why this was worth renting a car and picking off ticks and dodging maskless others who might spread COVID: Some things are eternal.

Serve

How to serve other people’s children

Before I started my current job as a lunch and recess monitor at an elementary school, I hadn’t thought much about a teacher’s perspective. I could barely imagine it. Now I look at the students around me and wonder, how can I reach them? Fortunately, educators like Lisa Delpit started researching this question decades ago, and in my community, her ideas are gathering strength like never before.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

April 2021 In Review

4/30/2021

APRIL 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

I Confess I Balked at This Title

It took me two years to crack the cover of this book. I think I wanted to believe I had learned all of this antiracist stuff already, and yet, here I offer you a few take-aways that reinforce how this is an on-going personal process, how in our own lives, a little bit at a time, we can continue to change our white-normalized culture.

Write

The Coddling of the American Mind

There is much to discuss in this book, but for this essay I focus on the writers’ claim that the decline of free play is harming our kids. I recommend reading the entire book, but in the meantime, consider how you might restrain your tendency to hover and intervene. I tried it myself recently, and let me tell you: it’s hard.

Discuss

Such a Fun Age

Most of us found this compelling, and yet, if we had difficulty with it, it was often because we wished for more growth from rounder characters. Still, as readers shared vulnerably about parenting struggles or times when they may have operated from a position of racial and/or class privilege, perhaps what vexed us the most was how easily we could identify with Reid’s characters, and how we wished for growth for ourselves.

Pray

Easter 2021

Last Easter I cried out to God to help our world, and I watched at least three services online. This year, by contrast, I only felt empty. I signed up for the Easter choir in an attempt to be a part of something, but I had no idea that come Easter morning I would be blown away by a message that once again seemed to speak directly to me. What you are feeling makes sense, it said. This is the empty tomb. Please watch. See for yourself as we hope for a year of jubilee.

Serve

Back to School (in more ways than one)

Throughout the pandemic I’ve had competing feelings about wanting to help versus wanting to hide. Recently though, I realized all of it boiled down to this: I simply needed to get out of the house. I never imagined I’d end up working as a lunch and recess monitor at an elementary school, but somehow, for now, it seems like the very place I’m meant to be.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

March 2021 In Review

3/31/2021

MARCH 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

Tattoos on the Heart

Get your tissues ready and be prepared to let go of all of the grief you have stored up over the past year. Boyle may be sharing stories about his work with gangs in L.A., but the lessons he has to teach us apply to any time when we have felt like our efforts have failed us. Let him (and Jesus) remind you what success looks like.

Write

Breath

Does it really matter how we breathe? Why do certain breaths feel more satisfying than others? Can breathing actually heal your body? Take a meandering trip through human evolution, western science and eastern breathing techniques as Nestor tries to get to the bottom of the relaxing power of a really deep breath.

Discuss

Braiding Sweetgrass

Our book club read Kimmerer’s book last fall, but I wanted to highlight it here because I think it pairs so well with Hope Jahren’s The Story of More. Reading these books in combination gives us a more holistic view of how our planet works, and how we can take care of it and each other.

Pray

Be the Bridge

In her book, Morrison shares her journey of waking up Black, and also provides a framework for initiating multicultural and multi-racial conversation in small group settings, places where Christians can listen and learn about how they can take part in the process of racial reconciliation.

Serve

The Story of More

A small primer for anyone with a question about climate change, Jahren writes with a humor and humility that begs to be reread and shared with others. Bring your questions and your open mind, and be prepared to be moved to ask yourself how you can help.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

February 2021 In Review

2/28/2021

FEBRUARY 2021 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

Love Poems (for Married People)

If you’re anything like me, at this point, a year into the pandemic, you might (at times) welcome some (great) distance from your spouse and paradoxically could also use an incredibly awesome date night to make up for lost time. Read John Kenney’s short book of poetry and remember why you tried marriage in the first place, and why you are yet grateful for that person who consistently leaves one unwashed utensil in the sink.

Write

Song for a Pandemic Puppy Acquired During a Nor’easter at Christmas

When it rains, it pours, so apparently if you decide to jump on the pandemic puppy bandwagon, you will end up acquiring said puppy in the middle of a Nor’easter just as your kids switch to remote learning while you’re frantically preparing for Christmas. Things could always be worse, you say. Then they get worse. By the time Christmas rolls around, you’re not exactly sure how to express your gratitude that you survived but it comes out in the form of a question, something akin to: Did anyone just see that?

Discuss

The Searcher

In this new mystery, Tana French captivates her audience and protagonist with the Irish landscape, scenery that threatens to pacify the most inquisitive detective and throw a hound off its scent. One of our readers could verify that the author did a great job nailing the cadence and dialect of the Irish characters' dialogue. While slow to start (and at other times), we found this an interesting window into personalities that play their cards close to the chest.

Pray

Sticky Faith (for Families)

While on a school playground recently, I overheard a conversation among teenage girls that gave me pause. Beginning with the question, You went through a Jesus phase in seventh, didn’t you?, the conversation quickly petered out, suggesting the topic gave those girls pause too. What struck me wasn’t that they were talking about faith. What struck me was that they didn’t know how to keep talking. All of this sent me into some reflection about how I might prepare my own kids for these kinds of conversations in their future.

Serve

La Collaborativa Food Pantry

It’s pretty hard to engage in service work during COVID when the predominant message for so long has been “Stay home.” It’s also pretty hard to get involved when I feel more likely to hop a plane to Hawaii or buy that farmhouse on 10 acres. Recently I was compelled to remember to live and serve in my community while I’m still here. With that in mind, it was pretty easy to shift gears and pitch in with a service project my church had already been involved in for weeks.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

January 2021 In Review

1/31/2021

JANUARY 2021 | IN REVIEW
READ | WRITE | DISCUSS | PRAY | SERVE | REFLECT

Even in Cambridge

Dear Reader,

During these past few months, I have read and written little. I did not send a newsletter for October, November or December. My church attendance (via YouTube) dropped off, and my prayer life diminished, though as some of my kids once again transitioned from remote to in person learning earlier this month, I noticed that my standing refrain switched from “Help me not kill them” to “Please keep them safe” -- same bottom line but very different sentiment. Our book club continued to meet virtually to discuss a text each month, and if you want to catch up on our reviews, check them out here. However, in the area of service, I have also felt like a dry well with nothing to give. This month, I experienced sparks of hope, and even more recently, as I began to hear of needs in our surrounding communities, I began to feel like perhaps I could find the energy to join in the efforts.

In Luke 4:38-40, we can read of Jesus’ healing power and be reminded of what we are supposed to do once we have recovered from illness:

“Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.”

Once we are made well, we are meant to serve and help the next person in line. Today I’d like to offer the single essay that I wrote this month, a book review that also describes how the text intersects with my own writing and prayer life. It is my hope that in sending it your way it lifts your spirits and serves you as well, so that you can shine light wherever you are now.

Warmly,
Caroline

Write

Lit

Sometimes truth comes at you from the most unexpected places.

Let’s say, for example, that you’re reading the third memoir in a row about substance abuse -- and all of the really really awful choices people make when they feel unloved -- and you’re wondering to yourself why people can’t write about beautiful things for a change. You know you’re not the only one who needs a pick me up... Continue reading here….

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

September 2020 In Review

9/30/2020

SEPTEMBER 2020 | IN REVIEW
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Even in Cambridge

Read

The Lemon Tree

This is one to pick up if you missed it the first time around. Tolan’s pain-stakingly detailed history embedded in a personal Israeli-Palestinian struggle will pull at your heart-strings and make you wish for one more person to do the next right thing. For someone like me who has trouble with dates and circumstances, Tolan breathed life and relevance into a conflict that for too many years felt intractable, and over there.

Write

(Not) Back to School: Advice from the Panel

Earlier this month I sat in on a virtual panel discussion hosted by Newton Covenant Church attempting to address the broad concerns of parents approaching a new, unusual and ever-shifting school year. Incredibly, experts in child psychology and education offered useful tidbits of advice that I was able to use to construct a new mindset and step more peacefully into day one.

Discuss

The Giver of Stars

This page-turner about packhorse librarians in Kentucky in the 1930s will shock you with its relevance. As entertained as we were (some likened the ease of the storytelling to that of a beach read), we were subdued and discontented by hard societal issues that remind us how far we have come...and how much we remain stuck in the same battles. We enjoyed the happy ending but wished that our society could reap such similar rewards.

Pray

Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence

How do we reconcile the violence of the God of the Old Testament with Jesus’s message to love your enemy? Before we lose any more believers due to unsatisfactory explanations, I urge you to consider Boyd’s hopeful interpretation, one that challenges us to view troubling events through the eyes of the cross, and one that reassures us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Serve

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

This was a difficult book to read, both because of its content and its structure. Chronicling the origins and intersections of segregationist, assimilationist and anti-racist ideas, Kendi debunks myths that have become embedded in American culture: that hate and ignorance led to racism and discrimination, that racism is in the past, and that anti-racism is intuitive and easy. On these points, Kendi says we have got it all wrong.

Reflect

Reflect

Check out the reflect button on the homepage where you can view this and all monthly newsletters.

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!