Literature Link for March 6,2022 — The Tao
• The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature by Michael N Nagler. [non-fiction] “So many of the problems that beset us — war, poverty, isolation, and the climate crisis — have their roots in an old story about the universe: we are purposeless matter in a random void, and scarcity, competition, and violence are inevitable. Citing the convergence of modern science and the essence of the world’s wisdom traditions, Michael Nagler argues for a new story: the universe is conscious and purposeful, humans are spiritual beings, and cooperation and collaboration are our natural way of interacting. This “new story” has had other champions, but Nagler is the first to realize that a piece is missing. For the new story to take hold, we have to embrace nonviolence, not only as a social change tactic but as a way of life.” “What is wonderful about this new book is it focuses on shifting our perspective of the knowledge and science that exists in the world into a positive force for peace and constructive change.” Do scroll down for read-worthy reviews as well as the ‘look inside” feature. https://www.amazon.com/Third-Harmony-Nonviolence-Story-Nature/dp/152308815X/ref=asc_df_152308815X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=509236552787&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=731891556877566319&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021890
• “The Sparrow” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. [poem] A little bird, with plumage brown,
Beside my window flutters down,/ A moment chirps its little strain,/ To call my notice to its song;/ But I work on, nor heed its lay,” https://poets.org/poem/sparrow-0
• Peace Like a River by Leif Engel [novel] was launched to critical acclaim in 2001 and went on to sell over one million copies. Now a perennial, best-selling American classic, it is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, and a love story, in which “there is magic… none more potent than Leif Enger’s prose” (Newsday). Enger brings us eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy in the Midwest who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been charged with murder. Their journey unfolds like a revelation, and its conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, and the most tragic of fates.” “The river simply finds a way to go around or over obstacles. It just keeps flowing. So when I think of peace like a river, I think of peace as something that can be continually flowing in our lives despite our circumstances or the obstacles that may get in our path.”
• “How to Relax and Tap into a Zen Feeling” by Vivian Manning-Schaffel. [brief non-fiction aticle] “Real people living busy lives can meditate successfully on their seven-year-old couch, in bed alone or next to their snoring partner, in the passenger seat of their car, at work, at the kitchen table, in the backseat during a road trip, on a park bench ….” Kind of what Shiraz talked about.
• For Ukraine, a Carl Sandburg poem, “Buttons” “I HAVE been watching the war map slammed up for advertising in front of the newspaper office.” https://amlitintheworld.yale.edu/2013/06/26/on-carl-sandburgs-buttons/
In faith,
Dale Dunnigan