April 2021 In Review

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

Even in Cambridge

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Reflect

Reflect

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

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VISIT THE SITE

Looking forward to reading & discussing with you!

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