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

Stories are at the heart of life. The stories we tell, and the ones we absorb, “are what allow us to pluck meaning from the rush of experience.” 

Given their importance, author Steve Almond asks what happens when some of the stories we tell ourselves are bad or fraudulent . . . or when we ignore those too frightening to confront . . . or when we fall “under the sway of stories intended to sow discord, to blunt our moral imaginations, to warp our fears into loathing and our mercy into vengeance?”  

“Bad stories arise from an unwillingness to take reality seriously.  If bad stories become pervasive enough they create a new and darker reality.”

We are now seeing what happens after too many of us come to accept fraudulent stories as true. If bad stories helped get us into today’s morass, then new stories are part of what is needed to lead us out.

Three posts in February focused on our need to keep telling better stories, in ways that reach across divides. Our real work quotes Wendell Barry who said, “It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work.” Rebecca Solnit’s writings are the focus of The work remains the work, as she suggests “[t]he job isn’t to be happy, sad, angry, unfeeling, or anything else; it’s to do the work to oppose this destruction. But taking care of yourself so you don’t fall apart or wear out or aggravate you allies too much is how you stay capable of doing it.” And please don’t say this is all unprecedented. The next four years will be filled with upheaval and uncertainty . . . just look at our history reminds us we’ve seen this before.

Let’s jump in and see what else caught my eye in February.

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TOP READER FAVORITE

Imagine a ruthless dictator who kills so many people that the Grim Reaper gets fed up and goes on strike. That scenario is the basis of a remarkable opera as well as a new graphic novel which opens the story to new audiences and new generations. The post that topped MTC reader views in February—When Death goes on strike—tells the story of composer Viktor Ullmann and poet/painter Peter Kien who worked together to produce Der Kaiser von Atlantis while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. Both the opera and the graphic novel it inspired are profound meditations on death.

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HISTORY HELPS US NAVIGATE AND UNDERSTAND OUR STORIES

Several books and musical soundtracks in February looked back at history to help us navigate what’s ahead.

• Reimagining a freedom movement is my conversation with historian Bennett Parten in MTC‘s most recent Author Q&A. As many as 20,000 formerly enslaved men, women, and children followed Sherman’s Army during its March to the Sea as war refugees, making it the largest emancipation event in our history. Parten makes the compelling case that this was a turning point with wide impact and long-lasting aftereffects. Sherman’s March was not only one of the last campaigns of the Civil War, but it was also an early battle of Reconstruction, one that continues to have repercussions today.

• The historic canal district of Amsterdam is A marvel of design, function, and livability. A thoughtfully written and beautifully illustrated book highlights the district’s evolution while also providing a study of contemporary debates facing this world class city.

• What seems impossible can be possible is an appreciation for the man who was the first African American Episcopal Bishop of Washington, The Right Reverend John T. Walker, on the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

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OTHER THINGS THAT TICKLED MY FANCY

Here’s a grab bag of what else I jumped into on MTC during February:

• Everything is unfolding, emerging, becoming begins with the premise, made by both theologians and scientists, that our concepts for God are—far too often—too small.

• Sometimes the most important word is “and”, as I consider in Navigating the “and” of life.

• Two of the original members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops have a new album out in April, which I preview in What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow.

• I love the pithy proverb — Volume 10 is my look back at some of my favorite quotes or short bits of advice that contains truth in 20 words or less.

• I did it. I watched (the first half of) this year’s Super Bowl . . . and now I remember why I stopped. Just when I thought it was safe to watch the Super Bowl again . . .

• And the always popular From the bookshelf: January 2025.

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FEATURED COMMENTS

As attacks on history ramp up and many on the right threaten a bishop who dared to speak truth to power, it seemed appropriate to note that mixing religion and politics has a very long history. Let my people go . . . speaking truth to power was that reminder. Brilliant Reader Alice, who I first met at the American Academy in Rome, simply replied “THANK YOU” three times, in all caps. Another Brilliant Reader—with a long history of free speech protests—added “Excellent reminder!”

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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, transformative 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, public servants, and others can feel especially vulnerable . . . because they are. Work hard for justice and democracy as the fight never ends.

When times get rough, let your memories wander back to some wonderful place with remembrances of family and friends. But don’t be too hard on yourself if a few of the facts slip. Just get the poetry right.

Remember that “we are here to keep watch, not to keep.” Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. And bash into some joy along the way.

Finally, try to be nice. Always be kind.

More to come . . .

DJB

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P.S. – If the turning of the Washington Post into a far-right Pravda on the Potomac surprised you, then you may want to go back and read my post from October of 2023.

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For the January 2025 summary, click here.

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Photo of the Lincoln Memorial from Pixabay