A summary of the February and March posts from the MORE TO COME newsletter.

The heart of winter seems a good time to refresh and refuel before the activity of spring sweeps us forward. After stepping back from writing in February for a short winter break, the newsletter posts blew in like the March wind with reviews of books I’d read, highlights of recent trips and lectures, thoughts on the weirdness of acquiring new eyes, and the welcoming of another birthday.

March’s MORE TO COME offerings come with a warning: hang on to your hat!

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TOP READER VIEWS

It may be a sign that as I send this summary out on Good Friday, the post with the most views is about . . . the crucifixion.

When the Biblical scholar and internationally known author and speaker Amy-Jill Levine agreed to answer a few of my questions about her book Witness at the Cross: A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Friday, I knew it would be of interest. But when AJ linked to the post on her Facebook page it reached a whole new audience, easily coming in as the leader in reader views for the month. The transformational power of stories is our fascinating conversation, where AJ describes—with her characteristic insight and wit—how a young Jewish girl came to be a New Testament scholar, why some stories are too grand for a single version, and the important perspective her “insider students” at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution bring to her work.

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OTHER READER FAVORITES

Three other posts attracted a lot of eyeballs. If you haven’t seen them, I hope you’ll find something that tickles your fancy.

• When I suggested in A kind of alchemy that communal singing would be another small step in healing the chasms in our civic life, it hit a chord (pun intended) with readers.

• My birthday post—A lifetime of letting go—was also popular. This year I’ve been noticing the value of slowing down in order to see the wonder around us. To help me with that change, I’ve turned to sources I haven’t always appreciated, such as Malcolm Guite’s poetry anthology The Word in the Wilderness.

• Music for Holy Week—2024 features some of my favorite choral groups making beautiful music for this special week on the Christian calendar.

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OTHER TREASURES FROM THE BOOKSHELF

In addition to the works by Levine and Guite, I encountered several other gems this month.

• Onions, celery, and bell peppers is a celebration of the State of Louisiana as seen through the photographs of Carol Highsmith. Carol answered my questions and shared some photographs in another of my author Q&As.

• In his engaging memoir Never Forget Our People Were Always Free: A Parable of Healing, Ben Jealous uses a series of stories, as I discuss in Faith to hand our children a better, stronger nation, to make the point that the country must truthfully and fully address our tensions.

• Benjamin Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World—a haunting nonfiction novel about the complicated links between scientific discovery and destruction—is reviewed in When the lines are never clear.

• Oligarchy in America isn’t just about the spoils; it’s about what everyone else loses in the process as I note in Predatory Plutocrats, focusing on a special issue of Mother Jones magazine.

• Looking for solutions considers the ongoing fascination with murder mysteries, such as Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

• Our stories tell what we choose to believe provides the context for the decision to permanently remove windows that honored Confederate generals from the Washington National Cathedral and replace them with two new windows by acclaimed American artist Kerry James Marshall and an accompanying poem by Elizabeth Alexander.

• And finally, the ever popular From the bookshelf: January 2024 and From the bookshelf: February 2024.

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MUSICAL GEMS

Singing—as seen in the reader choices—was the MTC musical theme of the month. Here are two more musical highlights.

• Achieving a musician’s dream focuses on a video of our son Andrew Bearden Brown and fellow BU student Valentina Pulido Pardo on their way to Carnegie Hall.

• A choral focus on epic narratives celebrates a new album, The Lamb’s Journey: A Choral Narrative from Gibbons to Barber, by the terrific Ensemble Altera.

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SEEING WITH NEW EYES

New perspectives bring a wider and more generous vision.

• The weirdness of cataract surgery and its impact on how I see myself and those around me is the topic of Seeing the world with new eyes.

• Pathways that tie us together is a summary of our recent trip to Panama and Costa Rica with National Trust Tours.

• What hallows a space focuses on how we dwell in, and move through, the places in our world.

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SOME OLD FRIENDS

While on my writing retreat, I posted a few old chestnuts. You’ll find:

• Tommy Emmanuel’s reminder to get on with life—Life is not a rehearsal—from 2018;
• There is always time for kindness, a Valentine’s Day post from 2022;
• A sampling of music for Black History Month; and
• Healing democracy’s heart, a post from 2015.

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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

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For the January 2024 summary, click here.

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Photo by Umut YILMAN on Unsplash