Six New Things – Week of February 14, 2022
Love is in the air – and it’s proliferating! We look at love in general, love of diversity, love of earth, parental love, pastoral love, and love of community.
ONE
This Valentine’s don’t be confined to just romantic love: celebrate “all forms of love” with What Is Love? (Chronicle).
TWO
Learn how to express love for diversity more fully with Filled to Be Emptied: The Path to Liberation for Privileged People (WJK).
Encourage youth to grow in their love of diversity with Me and White Supremacy – Young Readers Edition (Sourcebooks; the adult version is here) – a book we found while researching recent book banning efforts – which we encourage congregations to thwart with our Banned Books Build Community Great Idea which is supported by our Banned Books lib guide.
THREE
Expand the circle of love to include the whole creation by “stepping away from the American dream” guided in meditation, reflection and action by Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley‘s, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth (Broadleaf).
FOUR
Empower parents to share their love with their children, reminding them, It Starts with You: How Imperfect Parents Can Find Calm and Connection with Their Kids (Broadleaf).
[Side note in the familial department: Illustrated Ministry’s God Is Still with Us Family Devotional for Lent is now available!]
FIVE
Develop your capacity for sharing pastoral care with folx in all kinds of distress with The Divine Art of Dying, Second Edition: Living Well to Life’s End (Fortress); Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care: How to Respond When Things Fall Apart (Fortress); and A Complicated Choice: Making Space for Grief and Healing in the Pro-Choice Movement (Broadleaf).
Find additional resources and wisdom for Pastoral Care through all stages of life in our lib guide.
SIX
As congregations continue to discern how best to live with and love one another in community, Diana Butler Bass’s wisdom about The Mystical Body of Zoom is informative; while Krista Tippett’s interview, We Need Public Rituals of Confession… of Lamentation might inspire some new approaches.
May you be filled and surrounded by the healing and hope-filled joys of love today and every day, dear leaders!