Six New Things – Week of July 13, 2026
Counteract the polycrisis by dismantling barriers, deepening resilience, and practicing compassion for self and others.
ONE
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Penguin; offers Guides for Parents, Educators, and Youth) has sparked its own antidote in The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World (Rocky Pond) – ‘Readers won’t just discover how to avoid becoming the next Anxious Generation. They’ll learn how to become amazing.’
In Illustrated Ministry’s new blog series – Based on The Amazing Generation – Rev. Frances Whitman Rosenau ‘[walks] through the topics in the book and [helps] imagine what changes might be helpful or beneficial (0r necessary?!) for… youth ministry programs, in light of the research and claims’ made by the book’s authors.
TWO
Teens are not only anxious because of their cellphones and media platforms – the world is on fire (and the ‘Sky [is] on Fire’ too). We are living in a ‘polycrisis’.
- Throwback article, A Clear Choice: My Fossil Fuels – Or 5.6 Million People. Flreeing a Hurricane (Yes! Magazine, 2017) remains spot-on with its question: ‘Why is it still socially acceptable to burn fossil fuel?’ and confirms, ‘Collective action is made up of individuals leading the way, showing what’s possible, shifting the normal.’
- Heather Cox Richardson’s historical review of National Parks and Monuments, July 14, 2026 (Letters from an American) underscores the urgency of collective action in protecting our most beautiful – and sacred – public spaces.
- Rebecca Solnit sums it up and offers glimpses of hope through personal agency, community action, and systemic change in A Million Warnings and One Huge Invitation (Meditations in an Emergency; 07.14.26).
Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities (Heyday) ‘is your invitation into the lifelong work of caring for our Earth and one another as we all find our way through the polycrisis’.
THREE
Racism is but one of our crises. Addressing it and healing from it is one step toward healing all the other crises.
Soul Stories: Wisdom and Leadership Strategies for Flourishing African American Women (Chalice), ‘invites African American women leaders’ to ‘recognize the hidden forces working against your leadership, reclaim your voice with resilient faith, practice restorative self-care, embrace vulnerability as strength, and build the undefeated village that makes thriving possible’.
See Me, Believe Me: An Updated Guide to Deepen Allyship with Congregational Leaders of Color (Augsburg Fortress) and its downloadable Discussion Guide, ‘beckon readers to acknowledge ignorance, respect boundaries, join in celebration and lament, offer reparations, and continue doing their own work to dismantle racism and live into the fullness of loving God and neighbor’, that is: build that undefeated village.
FOUR
Empire always pits us against one another – racism, misogyny, ableism, xenophobia, etc., etc, etc. All forms of hatred, fear, and division are antithetical to the Gospel and tools of empire.
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump (Simon & Schuster) brings us ‘behind the scenes of a presidency that has transformed the culture, turned the Justice Department into an agent of retribution…and the office [of the president] into brazen vehicle for profit’.
Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American, July 11, 2026 (Substack) notes that the book’s authors – journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan – have just been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice and are under investigation by the FBI – ‘a huge [First Amendment] red flag’ that epitomizes the concerns raised in the book.
The Declaration of Independence Told Us What to Do about Tyrants Like Trump (Yes! Magazine, 2019) asks, ‘Are we courageous enough to take action?’ It’s the question of our time for each and every one of us.
FIVE
Ageism is on that list of divisions.
Surplus to Requirements (Wild Goose) ‘imagines a near-future Britain where growing old has become a crime. A 79-year-old woman who receives official notification that she is now ‘surplus to population requirements’ under the state’s Required to Die Act refuses to comply and begins a perilous journey’ toward freedom.
A 27-question Reading Group Discussion Guide, ‘offers plenty to explore around aging, dignity, community, hope, and the questions that stay with us log after the final page’.
SIX
Sexism is, too. The Garden of Eden displays it is a primary sin.
Femmephilia: Love Letters to Trans Mermaids, Queer Mothers, and Marilyn Monroe (Heyday), declares that ‘where neoliberal women’s empowerment has failed to combat the eruption of right-wing, anti-trans, and anti-feminist attacks… femmephilia can help us imagine a radical future… with a new logic of liberation for all feminized people.’
Back this up with the biblical refutations of misogyny and sexism found in the Mary Magdalene Updates from Elizabeth Schrader-Polczer, author of the John 11 analysis rocking the global biblical scholarship world and inspiration for Diana Butler Bass’s viral sermon, Mary the Tower (listen to the sermon here).
The song, Magdalene, started Libbie on her scholarly, theology-transforming journey.
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While navigating a polycrisis, it is good to journey together.
