February 2020 In Review

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

Even in Cambridge

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Read

Reset

Ellen Pao didn’t grow up feeling excluded.  She was raised to believe in a meritocracy, and for most of her life, as she worked hard, she saw her efforts pay off.  Then she tried her hand at venture capital...and ran into discrimination too blatant to ignore. In her memoir, she reveals an even more painful societal problem: that many of her female employees “never knew before that this wasn’t okay.”

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Write

On Writing Groups

Last month, Belmont Books hosted a successful writing group to lead a panel discussion on what makes writing groups work well.  Two of my own writing group members met me there to take notes. We left feeling pretty good about the rhythm and routines we had established for ourselves and exhilarated to join the writing conversation with a roomful of aspiring and active writers.

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Discuss

The Nickel Boys

This was a challenging read, but those who made it through said they were glad to have read it.  When I talk about injustice with my kids -- slavery, the Civil Rights movement and the like -- I try to impress upon them that this isn't history of long ago but rather the current state of our country.  The school that Whitehead depicts in The Nickel Boys didn't close until 2014.  How many other schools might still exist that may have operated in a similar fashion?

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Pray

Want to read the Bible this year?

I read 59 books in 2019.  And yet, I was intimidated when my friend asked me to read the Bible with her this year.  Sure, there are 66 books in the Protestant Bible, but some of those are less than a page long.  What’s the big deal?

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Serve

My Social Network

The first time I read this bumper sticker, I nearly rolled my eyes. Over ten years on the East Coast will make you quite fine with remaining in your own bubble, only speaking to others if absolutely necessary.  But in the past few years, I have witnessed the power of introductions, and two weeks ago, I learned my lesson all over again when I found a lost wallet on the sidewalk.

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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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