A book, a photo, and a coincidence

Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America ~ by Jane Borden, 2025, cultural anthropology, 304 pages

This colorful and enlightening pop history explains why the eccentric doomsday beliefs of our Puritan founders are still driving American culture today.  The current rise in far-right extremism as a natural result of our latent indoctrination, so the author proposes that the United States is the largest cult of all.

Since the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock, cult ideology has been ingrained in the DNA of the United States.  Journalist Jane Borden argues that Puritan doomsday belief never went away; it went secular and became American culture.  From our fascination with cowboys and superheroes to our allegiance to influencers and self-help, susceptibility to advertising, and undying devotion to the self-made man, Americans remain particularly vulnerable to a specific brand of cult-like thinking.

With in-depth research, Borden uncovers the American history you didn’t learn in school, including how we are still being brainwashed, making us a nation of easy marks for con artists and strong men.  Along the way, she also revisits some of the most fascinating cults in this country presenting them as integral parts of our national psyche rather than aberrations.

Family photo

A photo I found recently among my stuff shows my dad holding my little brother and me when there were only the two of us children.  Since Billy was two-and-a-half years younger than I was, I think the photo was taken about 1944 or 1945.  I believe our car was a black 1940 Chevy.

I could call this coincidence #1142

I love coincidences.  I went to the Café one morning this week and got back to my apartment a bit before noon.  I looked to see how many steps I had taken by that time.  There would be many more steps before I went to bed, but I smiled when I saw that at 11:42 a.m. I had taken exactly 1,142 steps.

Here's what I posted this week:

1. Monday's focus was on food, HERE.  Fried okra is my favorite food.
2. Wednesday was a "purr-fect" day to "Adopt a Shelter Pet," HERE.
3. Thursday was about May Day protests, HERE.
4. Saturday was a family birthday, HERE.  My twins are now 65 years old.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Thoughts about yesterday's dance program

Dance program

Wednesday, I went to the Big Muddy Dance Company program in the Community Room here at the Crown Center.  I got a good photo by standing over to one side to see over the crowd.  I'll add it, if and when I can get it from my phone to my laptop.  For now, this photo is from their web site.

I thought about my sister as I watched them dance.  A little background:  I was the oldest, and I took piano lessons from my mother's best friend, who said she would teach me at age 5, if I could count to ten and knew the alphabet from A-to-G.  (For those of you who don't know, those are the names of the white keys of a piano.)  My brother Bill was the next sibling, and he was into sports, especially playing basketball in high school.  My sister Ann, the third child, took dance lessons, and this program made me think of her.

Another family photo, another book (or two)

Bonnie, Bill, and Ann on East 26th Street in Chattanooga around 1949 — or maybe 1950.  We're all dressed up, so it may be Easter Sunday.  Our baby brother (born in March 1949) would have been too little to pose with us.  Our dad was the meat cutter at Brainerd Grocery, and we rode to church in the back of that delivery van that he drove.

Mine to Do: Journal ~ by Tracy Brown, 2015, journal, 134 pages, 8/10

Donna gave me a journal for Christmas in 2019, and now I have "found" a journal she bought for her Kindle.  I wondered if I should read it, since it's "someone else's" journal.  But as I flipped through it, I discovered she never did "write" anything in it.  She did, however, rate it 4 stars of 5 at the end.  That means she at least read through all the prompts in the book.  I wonder if she bought this book about the time she got me that gift journal in 2019.  Here are a dozen prompts I noticed as I looked through the book, and I decided to read this short book myself:

• "If things go wrong, don't go with them!" ~ Roger Babson
• "Peace treaties never occur until people from all opposing sides begin believing in their common benefit more than their individual success." ~ Tracy Brown
• "Remember, when old patterns are broken new worlds can emerge." ~ Wendy Craig Purcell
• "Forgiveness is giving up the possibility of a better past." ~ Unknown
• "Love one another, and do not strive for another's undoing." ~ Seneca Proverb
• "I was raised in what I consider to be not a melting pot, but a salad bowl." ~ Edward James Olmos
• "The future depends on what we do in the present." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
• "Prejudice is like a hair across your cheek.  You can't see it, you can't find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing at it because the feel of it is irritating." ~ Marian Anderson
• "I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.  I will not refuse to do something I can do." ~ Helen Keller
• "We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
• "We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry.  And we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color." ~ Maya Angelou
• "It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end." ~ Ursula LeGuin

Amazon's description:  Capturing your thoughts in a journal is a great way to explore the complex issue of race-based hatred and violence.  The primary question is:  "In response to race-based hatred and violence, what is mine to do?"  I think it's interesting that Amazon also has this:  "There are 0 customer reviews and 1 customer rating."  That rating is a 4-star rating, so it must be Donna's rating directly from her Kindle!  Wow!

The author's page is WhatIsMineToDo.com.  Visit that page, if you want to be challenged to clarify what actions you might take to end race-based hatred and violence.  Click on the link to hear Tracy Brown's 14-minute TEDx Talk, where she encourages us to "Speak up, and stand up."  I also learned on Amazon that there's a BOOK, not just a journal.  Same name (almost) and same author.  Here's THAT information:

Mine To Do: Responding to Race-Based Hatred and Violence ~ by Tracy Brown, 2015, race relations, 132 pages

This book is a sharing of thoughts and emotions related to the topic of race-based hatred and violence.  Instead of focusing on statistics, demographics or politics, this book reminds us of the many ways racism impacts our daily functioning.  Each of the essays encourages the reader to consider what specific things can be done to build relationships that are based on respect and fairness.  Tracy shares information and ideas to help individuals navigate their personal journey in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society.  If we want to see change in our world, each one of us must answer the question, "What is Mine to Do?"

The day after the Charleston murders, Tracy Brown found herself sitting in a jury room considering whether she, a black woman, could be a fair and impartial juror in a case where a young white man killed nine innocent people because of the color of their skin.  What happened as a result of that morning has become an unexpected call to action for all people committed to mutual respect or willing to take a stand for fairness.  In addition to the thought-provoking quotations included throughout the book, there is a helpful collection of inspirational quotes provided at the end.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

Mother's Day

This photo of Mildred and Bill was taken by Jim in 1976.  That looks like me behind them.  Anyway, it was taken at my house on the mountain, and I'm pretty sure that's David in the plaid jacket in the background.

I took this photo of my mother in 1987, when she lived with me on Avalon Circle.  My friend Donna knew it was my favorite snapshot of Mom, so she had it enlarged and framed for me when Mom died in 2004.  I still have it across from where I'm sitting.

Memories are made of this ... and this ... and this

Chattanooga telephone directory, September 1944

A woman named Cathy posted this picture in the "You Know You're From Chattanooga If..." group on Facebook, saying, "This piece of history is talking to me!  It’s been through some rough times.  Hopefully I can preserve it."  And she was willing to look up names for those of us who were curious.

I didn't know if our phone number in 1944 was in the name of William E. Setliffe, Jr. or Bonnie Reynolds, since we moved into my maternal grandmother's house with my Aunt Bonnie in 1943.  I memorized my address and phone number as a child:  3208 5th Avenue, and 2-9060.  I thought my paternal grandfather — William E. Setliffe, Sr. — might also be in that book, even though he died during that year.  Cathy reported, "There's two listings for William E. Setliffe Jr."

• W E Setliffe Jr (r) 822 E Main....6-8990
• Mrs. W E Setliffe Jr (r) 3208 5th Av....2-9060

She added, "I don't see your grandfather listed."  I didn't remember off-hand which month my grandfather died (I was only 4, after all).  It was probably earlier in 1944.

My dad's listing at 822 Main Street would be the grocery store he owned at the SW corner of Main Street and Central Avenue, directly across the street from Miss Griffins Foot-Long Hot Dogs.  Her little stand used to be right at the corner in a little triangle until the streets were widened.  Her place is still at that corner, but now it's bigger.  I asked if Gladys Setliffe was listed, but Cathy didn't find my dad's mother listed.  I remember that she lived on Cameron Hill after his father died.  When she remarried and moved to Florida a few years later, I was in the third grade.  That would have been the spring of 1949.

Mom, me, and Dad holding my brother Bill, in the house on 5th Avenue about 1944

Family memories

Then I started thinking about the (r) Cathy had mentioned.  I presume that means "residence," and both listings have that (r) designation.  When I was very young, we lived behind the grocery store.  Then we moved about a block up Main Street (toward the Ridge) before moving in with my Aunt Bonnie after my maternal grandmother died.  Maybe the grocery store had no phone, or maybe my dad had one in the back where we used to live.  After all, who would have had time to answer the phone all day, when he was running the store by himself?  He was also the meatcutter, chopping and weighing and wrapping meat.  Phones were not as ubiquitous in the 1940s as they are now.

Word of the Day

u·biq·ui·tous / yo͞oˈbikwədəs / adjective = present, appearing, or found everywhere.  Ubiquity is generally used to describe something "existing or being everywhere at the same time, constantly encountered, widespread, common."  Ubiquitous can also be used as a synonym for words like worldwide, universal, global, pervasive, all over the place.  Example:  "Phones were not as ubiquitous in the 1940s as they are now."

Blast from the Past

Imagine the smile on my face and the uplift this message on Facebook gave me last week.

"Hey, Bonnie — I feel badly that we've lost touch over the years.  I think the last time I saw you was at a Bible study when you were leading Forrest Avenue United Methodist here in Chattanooga, but I still remember you fondly from Baylor days when you worked in the library.  You were so encouraging to me in so many ways.  In fact, I used to call you my 'guru,' and you'd sign your notes 'bjguru.'  I'm back in Chattanooga now, although over the past decade or so I worked some here and some outside of Philadelphia.  I just happened to think of you the other day and wondered how you were doing, then thought I'd check Facebook and see if I could find you.  Looks as if you're in Missouri now: what led you there?  Hope you and your family are safe and well and that you're happy and enjoying life.  You were always a great influence on me, and I'm grateful."

Keith was in high school when I met him in 1974 at Baylor School in Chattanooga.  I was working in the school library, shelving books much as I do now at the Crown Center for Senior Living.  That's how I paid my way through college for my first degree.  I remember Keith bringing the children's choir from First Christian Church to sing at Forrest Avenue United Methodist, maybe in the late 1980s.  A group of six-year-olds.  More memories.  Keith and I are now Facebook friends.

Mom's Monday ~ 100 years

Mildred Inez Reynolds Setliffe (1917-2004)

My favorite photo of my mother was taken in 1987, the year she turned 70.  Today marks a century since she was born.  One hundred years ago!  That's hard for me to fathom.

Reynolds family at home at 3208 5th Avenue, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Here's a photo when she was 12 or younger, since her dad died in a traffic accident when she was only 12 years old.  That's her on the front row, a tall girl with her sister Bonnie (behind her), their six brothers, and their parents on the left.

She loved her four children, twelve grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  I'm not sure how many great-grands she had before she died, but seven of them were my grandchildren.  This photo shows her with one of my sister's granddaughters.

Here's our family about 1944, when I turned four and Billy was about a year and a half old.  Later that year, Dad was drafted and had to sell our grocery store.  Mother couldn't run the store.  She was pregnant, had the two of us children to look after, and ― besides ― Dad was the meat-cutter in the family.  With him gone, Mom had to learn how to drive.  He didn't see Ann until she was several months old.  They didn't have Jimmy until 1949.

So what would she want me to tell you about her, besides her love of family, of course?  Maybe .....

• that she taught an adult Sunday School class for more than forty years;
• that she was president of the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) of my elementary school two different times;
• that she went back to school and became a cafeteria manager (she always loved cooking), 
• that she took college courses when she was Assistant Manager of the Food Service at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga;
• that a grandson called her "gallivanting granny" when he talked to a trucker while they were on the road visiting family;
• that she never seemed to sit down when she had the whole family over for dinner because she was too busy getting things for everyone.

Nah, she wouldn't want to brag, but I'm doing it anyway.   I love you, Mom, and I miss you.

Edited to add what my daughter Sandra sent in an email about her "Jamma" (Auntie is my Aunt Bonnie):

Mom,  I loved the pics and biography you wrote.  However, when you mentioned "taught a Sunday school class" I wish you had taken it a bit farther.  Knowing Jamma, she would want her biggest legacy, being a strong Christian, to be given more emphasis.  When she was in her last stages, her memory often failed on so many things.  She often "switched" family generations around and she thought I was you and you were Auntie.  However, one thing she could always remember perfectly was:

"Jesus loves me this I know,

For the Bible tells me so,

Little ones to him belong,

We are weak but He is

      strong. 

Yes, Jesus loves me

Yes, Jesus loves me

Yes, Jesus loves me

The Bible tells me so."

I truly love remembering how happy she was, even when nearing her end, when we would sing this together. 

Happy 100th, Jamma!

Daddy's day ~ William Elmer Setliffe, Jr.

My father was born on October 9th, 1918.  That's 99 years ago!  This photo is from World War Two, probably about 1945.  He died in traffic in 1964 when he was only 45 years old.  He was excited about the Interstate Highway being built through Chattanooga that year, but he never got to drive on it.  He met only the first six of a dozen grandchildren.

This family photo shows him with my mother (who died in 2004), me, and my brother Bill (who died in April).

 

Two more photos of him, with Billy and me.

This day is his.  It's the day he was born, but also the day he is remembered by fewer and fewer family members because we are dying off; only two of his four children are still alive.  My three children met him, but the twins were barely four and my son was not yet a year old when a drunk driver ran a stop sign and slammed into the truck he was riding in.  They don't remember him, even though one of the girls said at the time, "Grandpa got died."  They both called National Cemetery "flower land" when they visited his grave with me after the funeral.

Others in the U.S. may be celebrating Indigenous People's Day (or perhaps they still call it Columbus Day), but for me, it's Daddy's Day.
I love you, Dad.

Sunday Salon ~ a weird week

My life outside books

I edited last Sunday's Salon post at 9:35pm after learning that my brother Bill had died, and I haven't been motivated to post anything all week long.  This is the picture his family chose for his obituary.  I'll just leave it here and see if I can get back in the groove to blog again.  Our sister Ann died eight months ago, so only two of us siblings remain:  my baby brother Jim and I.  I'm the oldest and feeling my age this week.  Bill was 74, and I'll be 77 in a couple of weeks.  Rest in peace, little brother.

My life in books

Books I've completed since last week's Sunday Salon:

29.  Windless Summer ~ by Heather Sharfeddin, 2009, fiction (Washington), 8/10

"It was July, 104 degrees that afternoon on the bluffs overlooking the Columbia River in eastern Washington State" (p. 1).

30.  Little Boy Lost ~ by J. D. Trafford, 2017, fiction (Missouri), 9.5/10

My father took a deep breath, and then he walked toward the door.  As he went into the hall, he turned around.  "I fought the battle over segregated lunch counters and the right to vote, but this is different."  He pointed at me, lying injured in bed, my face swollen and cut.  "The White Only signs have been taken down, but they're still there.  This is your fight now" (p. 57).

31.  The Color of Hope: A Color of Heaven Novel ~ by Julianne MacLean, 2013, fiction (California and Massachusetts), 8/10

"I longed for a sibling, but I knew I didn't have any because I'd been told my real mother never had any other children previously" (p. 36).

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

Sunday Salon ~ books and authors

My life in books

I completed seven books in January, five books in February, but a whopping total of fifteen books in March.  Wow!  That's a lot, even for me.  As you can see from this week's list, I have read 28 books so far in 2017, finishing that last one today.

25.  The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer ~ by John Dominic Crossan, 2010, religion, 9/10

"I would find in that prayer what the historical Jesus stood for ― or knelt for" (p. 7). ... "Could it be that love is a style or mode of justice, so that you can never have either alone?" (p. 189).

26.  Finding Jake ~ by Bryan Reardon, 2015, fiction (Delaware), 9/10

"...neither Jake nor I talked to anyone else while at the bus stop.  Thinking about how easily my daughter melded into 'the group,' I wished, not for the first time, that I could be more like her.  I also wished (although I would never admit it) that Jake could be more like her, too" (p. 125).

27.  Girls Will Be Girls ~ by Franklin Folger, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, cartoons, 6/10

Woman standing in front of seated women, all wearing hats, at a meeting:  "Since many of you applauded when it was announced that we have a large deficit in the treasury, I feel I should explain what that means" (p. 64).

28.  Keeping Sam ~ by Joanne Phillips, 2015, fiction (England), 8/10

"Just how much else had her amnesia made her forget?" (loc. 278).

Donna and I went to Left Bank Books to hear Ferguson Wellspring Church pastor F. Willis Johnson discuss his book Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race in Your Community (2017).  The book points out the complex causes of violence in the community, including racial prejudice, entrenched poverty and exploitation, segregation, the loss of education and employment, and the ravages of addiction.  I read the book in January and rated it 9 of 10, an excellent book.

"People who are hurting
need to be affirmed in their hurt;
people who are angry
need to be affirmed in their anger" (p. 54, repeated on p. 60).

My life outside books

This photo shows the progress of the blooming trees where I live, and today my son and his wife are celebrating their 31st anniversary.  When my friend Joan moved from the apartment complex next to mine last week, I "inherited" some of the food from her shelves.  While looking at the "Best by" dates to decide what to use first, I found "Philippians 4:6-7" stamped beside the date on one box.  Naturally, I looked it up in my Bible (NRSV).

6  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yes, I know that's another book I just quoted from, so let me get back to life outside books by sharing a yoga video.  You may remember I'm in a Gentle Chair Yoga class, so here's "Yoga for Yankees" featuring Yankee humorist Fred Marple.  If the video quits working, view it on YouTube.

Edited at 9:35pm:  I just got a call from my daughter Barbara relaying the news that my brother Bill died.  Jim, my other brother, asked her to call me.  He's my only sibling now, since our sister Ann died in August.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.