Literature Link for April 3,2022 — Arians [& Goths]
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. From British illustrator, artist, and author Charlie Mackesy comes a journey for all ages that explores life’s universal lessons, featuring 100 color and black-and-white drawings. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked the mole. “Kind,” said the boy. Charlie Mackesy offers inspiration and hope in uncertain times in this beautiful book, following the tale of a curious boy, a greedy mole, a wary fox and a wise horse who find themselves together in sometimes difficult terrain, sharing their greatest fears and biggest discoveries about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love. Click on the “look inside” for a taste.
• “Brown Girl Creed” by Barbara Jane Reyes. Here is the poem Rev. Matthew read during the service. “ I believe in my mother, the mother almighty, / mover of heaven and earth, / creator of daughters and dinner,” https://poets.org/poem/brown-girl-creed
• “Excerpt: Fiction is freedom” by Matt Haig. Here is a brief article about the necessity of reading. “In a world that can get too much, a world where we are running out of mind space, fictional worlds are essential. They can be an escape from reality, yes, but not an escape from truth. Quite the opposite. . . It is how humans merge. How minds connect. Dreams. Empathy. Understanding. Escape. Reading is love in action.” https://ndla.no/en/subject:1:c8d6ed8b-d376-4c7b-b73a-3a1d48c3a357/topic:ef9717dd-08d9-443a-a6e1-50e4a8b476b5/topic:3ac3ecc3-554c-4bc2-a8e4-de787ca7b6b3/resource:fd6f176e-0fdd-40c1-a892-6fd3e4e1e5e5
• “Susan Sontag on Literature and Freedom” from Maria Popova’s The Marginalian column. [1 page article] Literature can tell us what the world is like. Literature can give standards and pass on deep knowledge, incarnated in language, in narrative. Literature can train, and exercise, our ability to weep for those who are not us or ours. Who would we be if we could not sympathize with those who are not us or ours? Who would we be if we could not forget ourselves, at least some of the time? Who would we be if we could not learn? Forgive? Become something other than we are?” https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/10/22/susan-sontag-on-literature-and-freedom/
• “Today, When I Could Do Nothing” by Jane Hirshfield. [a pandemic poem] “ Today, when I could do nothing, / I saved an ant. / It must have come in with the morning paper, / still being delivered / to those who shelter in place.” Includes commentary from the author. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/one-true-thing/202004/poet-jane-hirshfield-today-when-i-could-do-nothing
In faith,
Dale Dunnigan