A summary of the April posts from the MORE TO COME newsletter.
Our news feeds this month are something of a hot mess. With the continuing fight over providing the funding Ukraine desperately needs to continue to beat back Russian aggression; to attempts to just skip the entire 20th century and roll our laws back to 1864; to trying to keep the multiple trials of the former president straight; to bizarre (at best) oral arguments in the Supreme Court; to the rewriting of history and the abandonment of democracy by the leaders of one of our political parties, it has been quite the month for drama.
Surprisingly (or not), I found myself drawn to stories and works of empathy, wonder, and kindness (along with some history) on MORE TO COME during April. Let’s take a look at what tickled my fancy.
TOP READER VIEWS
The lessons history shares to help us understand today’s events piqued the interest of many MTC readers. In Wrapping government and religion together never ends well, I quoted a Quaker pastor who turned to history to show that the current movement to take away our democracy by wrapping together the flag and religion is an old one in America.
“After John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham Lincoln and was hiding in the Virginia countryside, he wrote in his journal that Lincoln had been the cause of all of America’s troubles and that ‘God has made me the instrument of his punishment.’ There is nothing so wicked, so fraught with abuse, as when we create cultures of crucifixion, which invariably begin with the marriage of government, violence, and religion.”
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Several posts this month looked at the topic of hope in various forms.
- In a post entitled Citizenship, I write that we each have a role to play in choosing the type of country we want. How we respond to others is part of that choice. We can choose to perpetuate injustice against “the other” or—in our own flawed but unique way—take on the job of choosing to fight it. In FDR’s words, we can “apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”
- A new work on ways to change the climate story from despair to possibility—edited by Rebecca Solnit—is reviewed in Difficult is not the same as impossible.
- The purple iris as the antidote to worry and sorrow is a short piece that features a handmade plaque and a quote from civil and women’s rights pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune. Her words suggests that a great deal of worry and sorrow can be offset by a purple iris. Or a lark. Or a morning glory.
- Because it is baseball season, hope spring eternal . . . at least in Baltimore. Read my take on both the Nationals and the Orioles in Opening Day . . . 2024.
TREASURES FROM THE BOOKSHELF
In addition to the book on climate change, I included reviews of several other works in this month’s newsletter.
- In Places give access to minds, I look at Adam Nicholson’s wonderful new book How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks and suggest that his image of the “harbor mind” is an apt metaphor for thinking more expansively about the world.
- Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable is a short meditation on Mary Oliver’s book of poetry, Felicity.
- Megham Daum’s book The Problem with Everything has been summarized as a work about “feeling old, spending too much time online, and getting ornery about the politics of young people.” In Contradictions, nuance, and humanity I write that it is a bit more complicated that that, but sometimes our resistance to the resistance is simply generational.
- Two murders in Venice lead to long buried secrets about collaboration that few want revealed, as I note in the post Just Rewards which examines another work from Donna Leon’s Detective Guido Brunetti series.
- And you’ll want to check out the always popular From the bookshelf: March 2024.
EYE-OPENING MUSICAL SELECTIONS
Cataract surgery, Spring, and special celebrations all played a role in this month’s Saturday Soundtrack musical selections.
- Most of what we see is behind our eyes came after my second eye was operated on to have the cataract removed. New eyes are not the only reason to wake up, look around, and be astonished. But they help. And it also gave me a chance to pull up some favorite songs about sight from artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Jackson Browne, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and Aretha Franklin.
- Welcome Spring was my take on songs about the season from The Beatles, Nina Simone, and Carrie Newcomer, among others.
- The upcoming celebration of the anniversary of Ella Fitzgerald’s birth prompted me to highlight her amazing musical legacy in A pioneer and a powerhouse.
- And finally, a few songs about books, just in time for Independent Bookstore Day, in the post Praise for the independent bookstore.
CONCLUSION
Thanks, as always, for reading. Your support and feedback mean more than I can ever express.
As you travel life’s highways be open to love, thirst for wonder, undertake some mindful walking every day, recognize the incredible privilege that most of us have, and think about how to put that privilege to use for good. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and others can feel especially vulnerable . . . because they are. Work hard for justice and democracy as the fight never ends.
Bash into some joy along the way.
And finally, try to be nice. Always be kind.
More to come . . .
DJB
For the March 2024 summary, click here.
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Photo of child playing in some April showers by Kristin Brown on Unsplash
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