July 2020 In Review

JULY 2020  |  IN REVIEW
READ  |  WRITE  |  DISCUSS  |  PRAY  |  SERVE  |  REFLECT

Even in Cambridge

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Read

If The Oceans Were Ink

Eleven years ago a patient offered me a copy of the Quran.  Why would I read it, I wondered?  I was happy with my religion.  The thing is, I came to feel that I should study it in order to better understand those who practice its teachings.  As I followed Carla Power’s deep dive into this sacred text, I also appreciated the space to examine what I believe within a safe yet probing interfaith conversation.

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Write

The Situation and the Story

As part of my continuing journey to learn the memoir form, I took a short writing course this month.  Halfway through I wondered why my instructor didn’t spend more time teaching.  Once I picked up Gornick’s short book on craft, I realized that the magic is in the reading  -- dissecting the work of others as well as continuing to reread my own.

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Discuss

The Water Dancer

There was a lot to dig into with this book!  We were drawn into this story by its suspense, were fascinated by the idea of Conduction, and found a different selection of images and struggles than those we have found in prior reads of enslaved people.  Above all, this is a story which makes it all too uncomfortably easy to draw parallels to the injustices that still pervade our society today.

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Pray

Mere Christianity

I approached this classic text a little nervously, hoping it would live up to the hype.  By the end though, I lost count of how many times I wanted to quote a passage.  For now, I want to highlight Lewis’s response to one of the critic’s biggest objections to Christianity -- How can you claim to believe in one God and yet say he is three persons?

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Serve

Summer Blast 2020 - Focus Fundraiser

This year during Summer Blast, our church leaders put a new twist on their annual fundraiser.  Rather than just asking the kids to bring in money to donate to an identified church mission, the kids would raise money for each time they served a family member.  My kids balked at this -- We do the work and they get the money?  And yet, by the end, the exercise turned out to be unexpectedly fruitful.

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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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