Beginning ~ amid illness and suffering

"She arrives glowing from the effort of running, strands of red hair coming loose from her kerchief (she tucks them in, marks on her neck like bruises on fruit.  A few minutes late but not enough for anyone to mention it.  Is almost surprised to find herself in the wards once more amid illness and suffering (on an evening such as this).  Her mind is elsewhere."

Girl Reading ~ by Katie Ward, 2011, fiction

Having posted information about this book when I got it from the library, I know the seven chapters are peopled by girls and women caught in the act of reading, and the book celebrates women in culture over the last seven centuries.

This first chapter is about "Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1333," and now I'm curious about why she's late, why she has bruises on her neck, what she's doing amid illness and suffering in the wards, and what's on her mind that is "elsewhere."  Like Tracy Chevalier's Girl With a Pearl Earring, this novel revolves around art.  I've already discovered the cover is a close-up of the artwork above.  Each woman in each chapter is, as it were, caught reading.  Who are these women, and will we be told what they're reading?

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.

Unlearning what is false

"A religion is as much a progressive unlearning of false ideas concerning God as it is the learning of the true ideas concerning God."

— Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881-1983), founder of the Reconstructionist movement of Judaism

Armchair BEA ~ 2013 agenda

Tuesday, May 28:   Introductions and/or Classics

We kick off the week by starting with introductions of ourselves.  Last year, we changed things up by having everyone answer questions from a pre-determined list.  It was such a hit, that we are doing it again.  The questions and more information will be posted in the weeks leading up to the event, so you can plan accordingly.

Credit:  Salon

Our first genre discussion will revolve around classic literature.  Ideas for discussion include a list of your favorite classics, books you would recommend to a non-classic believer, or even what draws you to keep reading those classics over and over again!

Wednesday, May 29:  Blogger Development and/or Genre Fiction

Day 2 we talk about how we develop ourselves as bloggers.  Have you branched out into your community?  Do you partner with other bloggers?  Have you gone "pro" or begun supplementing your income through your blog?  Are you a long-term blogger, and how has your online personality developed over the years?  These are simply ideas.  Think development and tell us what comes to mind.

The book-ish focus will be genre fiction.  What draws you to a specific genre?  Do vampires, zombies, or witches float your boat?  Or, do you prefer the heat of romance?  Recommend your favorite genres and/or books and help build reader TBR shelves a bit more!

Thursday, May 30:  Giveaways and/or Literature

We take a break from official discussions on Thursday to allow participants to hop around the web and enter blogger-hosted giveaways!  Start planning your giveaway now!

The genre of discussion is general literary fiction.  Which works of art have changed your life?  Be creative and make a list outlining books featuring specific subjects (i.e., animals, recommended prize-winners, outstanding authors, etc.).

Friday, May 31:  Ethics and/or Non-Fiction

We get back into discussions on Friday with the heavy topic of ethics.  Do you have recommendations to new bloggers to ensure credit is given to whom/where credit is due?  Have you had an experience with plagiarism?  How did you deal with it?  What are the guidelines as bloggers that we must follow?

We bridge the genre gap from fiction to all things non-fiction.  Do you read non-fiction?  Why or why not?  Is there a specific type of non-fiction that you prefer to read (i.e., historical, true crime, memoirs, biographies, etc.)?  What is the perfect book for a first-time non-fiction reader?

Saturday, June 1:  Keeping it Real and/or Children's/Young Adult Literature

What exactly does "keeping it real" mean?  The meaning lays in keeping.  How do you not only grow an audience, but how do you keep them coming back for more?  If you have been around for years, how do you keep your material fresh?  How do you continue to keep blogging fun?

Our final genre focuses on the younger crowd:  children's picture books and young adult literature and everything in between.  What are the top 5 (or more) books that every child should have on his shelf?  If you are an adult who reads YA, why do you keep going back for more?  If you are not a reader of these books, think back to your childhood and share your favorites from your younger years.

Sunday, June 2:  Armchair BEA Wrap-Up

On this final day, we encourage you to wrap-up the week with your favorites and highlights of the week.  Did you learn something new?  Did you connect with a new-to-you blogger?  What was your favorite discussion topic?  Do you have ideas for future years?  You can write your own blog post and link it up, but we also encourage you to take our end-of-event survey.

If you are interested, click here for Armchair BEA registration.  If you wonder who else is doing this, click here for the list of participants for 2013.  According to the comments here, they'll publish questions on the Armchair BEA blog "prior to the week of the event."

Review policy

Bookfool has a New Review Policy about reviewing books, so it seems like a good idea for me to formalize my own policy.  I'm going to use some of her ideas here.

1.  REAL BOOKS — I read "real" books, paperback or hardback, and have no interest in e-books.   I underline and write in books and tag pages with Post-it notes so I can use the book while teaching.  Besides, I love that new-book smell, which I enjoyed this very minute because UPS delivered two books.

2.  NO SPECIFIC DATES — I don't accept books for review on specific dates.  Being retired means that I can pretty much do what I want, when I want, unless I over-commit myself.

3.  NO PROMISES — Any books accepted for review are subject to being tossed if they don't work for me.   If I don't finish a book, I probably won't write about it at all.  I reserve the right to say nothing about the book at all.

4.  UNSOLICITED BOOKS — These will be reviewed if and when I choose to read the book.  I reserve the right to read what I want to read when I want to read it.

5.  EMAIL ME — To request a review, write to me at emergingDOTparadigmATyahooDOTcom.  I won't reply unless I'm interested in your book.

Monday Mindfulness ~ dancing for joy

Roberta Bondi, one of my seminary professors, made me aware of this one on Facebook when she commented on it.  Let's all dance like no one is looking — or cares.  Be joyful today.

“Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.” — Martha Graham

This one's for my dancing friend Emily.  You go, girl!

Sunday Salon ~ anyway

JANIS IAN and M.T. WINTER

It was rainy in Nashville on Friday, but my friend Donna and I enjoyed attending a dialogue between Janis Ian and Miriam Therese Winter at Scarritt-Bennett Center.  The event was heralded as "When Worlds Collide: Two Jersey Broads on Life, Love, and the Holy Spirit."

Janis Ian, whose first release was Society's Child, has won two Grammy Awards — the first in 1975 for her song At Seventeen, and the second in 2013 for Best Spoken Word Album for Society's Child: My Autobiography.  This year, she beat out Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, and Rachael Maddow, saying in her acceptance speech, "I keep thinking there's a punch line in here somewhere.  An ex-president, a first lady, and three lesbians walk into a bar."

Miriam Therese Winter (called "MT" by colleagues, students, and friends) is Professor of Liturgy, Worship, Spirituality and Feminist Studies at Hartford Seminary.  She has a penchant for exploring new and more authentic ways of living faith fully in a constantly evolving universe.  That sounds like all scholarship and research, but she is at heart a singer of songs whose recording Joy is Like the Rain went Gold in the 1960s. Here's a professional version of the song, and here's a one-minute piano version.

Society's Child: My Autobiography ~ by Janis Ian, 2008, memoir

It was the best of songs, it was the worst of songs.

But it was my song.

I was twelve years old, sitting in the back seat of our station wagon with my brother beside me and my father's guitar in my lap.  I'd picked my time carefully; we were headed from our home in New Jersey to my grandparents' apartment in the Bronx, so I had at least forty-five uninterrupted minutes to get my parents' full attention and play them the first song I'd ever written, "Hair of Spun Gold."

Paradoxology: Spirituality in a Quantum Universe ~ by Miriam Therese Winter, 2009, religion

Paradoxology.  About twenty years ago, this strange, wise, wonderful word appeared in a flash of insight and took up residence in me.  I did not know what to do with it, so I let it settle there in the soft underbelly of my spirit.  Like a sacred talisman infused with shamanic energy, this shard of the Holy Spirit, cautiously yet consistently, contributed to what I now would call a radical change in perception.  It helped me see what I needed to see and encouraged me to embrace it.

It all came together for me one day in a classroom filled with students.  While speaking about something I do not recall, I heard myself pose these questions:

• Why are the liturgies I celebrate called paraliturgy?
• Why are the biblical stories I tell called paraphrase?

The first face-to-face meeting of these collaborators, according to Janis, was "three hours of bonding over laundry and quantum physics."  It was fascinating to hear these two on Friday evening.  I especially like how MT, as she's called, plays with words.  In the first chapter, from which the above was quoted, she speaks of paradigm and paradox, paraphrase and a parallel universe.  She titled the chapter "The Amazing Para Maze."  John Seigenthaler moderated their dialogue.

ANYWAY


A version of this list of sayings is attributed to Mother Teresa, though it appears to have originated with a college student named Kent M. Keith in a 1968 pamphlet titled “The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council.”  Emily, who did her research, brought copies last week to everybody in our Bible study class.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest, people may deceive you.
Be honest anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

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Caturday ~ Dear Diary

The diary of sad cats everywhere.  The cat mentions Sisyphus in the last sentence.  Do you know that story?

Sisyphus, in Greek mythology, was punished for his deceitfulness by being compelled to push an immense boulder up a hill forever, watching it roll back down every time he reached the top.  The Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay by Albert Camus (French 1942, English 1955), in which he introduces his philosophy of the absurd about our futile search for meaning.  In the last chapter, Camus compares the absurdity of our lives with Sisyphus having to repeat — over and over and over — the same meaningless task.  The poor kitty above is Sisyphus, pushing that big watermelon up out of the water.  (And don't we wonder what it was doing there in the first place?)

The most memorable part of the philosophy class I took around 1970, when I first learned about Sisyphus, was this sentence:

"One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Our professor had us imagine him reaching the top of the mountain.  Sisyphus could stand tall and straight, watching the boulder bounce away from him down the steep slope.  He could look out over the nearby hills and valleys as he starts making his way back to the bottom.  How is the task of Sisyphus different from getting up every morning and going to work?  Or staying home and washing the same dishes for the umpteenth time?  Or wiping your child's runny nose — again?

"One must imagine Sisyphus happy."  But the cat doesn't look a bit happy, does he?  (If the video quits working, watch it on YouTube.)