Literature Link for 8–19–22 — Empathy & Rage
• The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging by Charles Vogl. “A brilliantly intentional, well-composed plan for engaging and developing communities. This book is both an inspiration and a field guide for those who wish to connect deeply and build the communities our world so desperately needs.” “Charles Vogl’s book is a lucid, ferociously intelligent, and readily accessible road map to building a more connected culture. Education about community and character has been subordinated in American education to myopic cognitive and commercial learning. The result everywhere around us is devastating, from unprecedented wealth disparities to rampant tribalism. This work points to a much-needed antidote.” I recommend the “Look Inside” feature to read his powerful preface. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Community-Seven-Principles-Belonging/dp/1626568413/ref=asc_df_1626568413/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312741934517&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8407930055287783494&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021
•"On Another's Sorrow" by William Blake. Here is the poem from which Matthew quoted some of the lines. "... can He who smiles on all / Hear the wren with sorrows small, / Hear the small bird's grief and care, / Hear the woes that infants bear - /And not sit beside the nest, / Pouring pity in their breast" https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/blake/on_anothers_sorrow.html• “The Price of Pettiness and a Campaign to Stomp It Out” [Article] From Psychology Today, an interview with author Dr. Alex Alonso and Michael Woodward, PhD about bad behavior and taking a stand for civility. Alonso, Chief Knowledge Officer for the Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM] gives us some concrete steps and whose work focuses on building better workplaces for a better world. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/spotting-opportunity/201908/the-price-pettiness-and-campaign-stomp-it-out
• “The Snake and the Saw” from the website Fearless Soul. [youtube-4 mins] Here is a powerful, animated story about Anger and Letting Go which shows how our anger actually hurts us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwHhxeaSSRM
• Two short stories about anger, kindness, parenting, and love. from Website “Teachnet.com” [about 4 mins each] Both heartwarming. 1.” There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.” 2. “ The father cried out, “Where is the perfection in my son, Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God’s perfection?” The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father’s anguish, and stilled by the piercing query. “I believe,” the father answered, “that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child.” https://teachnet.com/communicate/inspiration/story-the-fence/
in Faith,
Dale Dunnigan