Weekend Top 10: Learning to Share My Voice edition
A curated list of what I've been up to lately: places, people, books, podcasts, music, links & more for your weekend downtime with thanks to the creators and cultivators filling the internet with truth, goodness, and beauty.
First, a photo from this week! Well, actually this photo was taken in November, but I just received it this week…
It may not be the most flattering image of any of us, but I love how deeply everyone seems to be listening to what I have to say. (Read to the end of the post for context!)
As if a switch was flipped, I’ve been given speaking opportunities once or twice a month since the fall. It’s not that I’ve never spoken in public before, but it feels as if somewhat out of the blue I’m now speaking on a regular basis to various groups on various subjects. At the same time, I’ve been speaking via live video stream to my Patreon community every week in January. No one’s more surprised than me how much I’m loving this work.
Here’s what I published this week!
On Patreon:
Cultivating A Rule of Life, part 4 - We enjoyed our fourth and final (at least for now) conversation around the practice of cultivating a Rule of Life. Thanks to those of you who were able to join us live and to those of you who watched on replay! If you haven’t yet joined our Patreon community, the good news is that these talks and handouts will be available going forward to anyone who subscribes as a Daybook patron (that’s the $5 a month level).
Now for more online truth, goodness, and beauty I’ve enjoyed this week…
My Top 10
(Click through each heading to see the Pinterest boards I’ve curated.)
1. Creators & Cultivators
It’s Black History month and I’ve been loving the daily brief history lessons at Mockingbird History Lessons For Adults. Here’s one of my favorite lessons so far: The History of African-American Social Dance
2. In Season (Winter holidays & Occasions)
The fun dance video was linked in one of this week’s posts: How Ex-Slaves Started The 1920s Dance Craze Called The Charleston (hint: It all started with the Juba) Marcie is brilliant, gracious, and generous (you may remember her guest post on this blog during Holy Week last year). For as little as $1 a month you can learn alongside me from this absolute wealth of learning the accurate story of Black America that is, at the very least, underrepresented if not outright ignored in the history classes we took in school.
3. Justice, Reconciliation, and Social Critique
Another story I first heard at Mockingbird and can’t stop thinking about: The Long Journey North The Forgotten Story Of The Reverse Freedom Rides Of 1962
“She was going to have a job, and she was going to be able to support her family,” one of Lela Mae’s daughters, Betty Williams, remembered in a recent interview – her first on the topic. Before coming north to Massachusetts, Lela Mae had been promised a good job, good housing and a presidential welcome.
But President Kennedy was not there to meet her. Margaret Moseley was.”
4. People & Place
Speaking of loving our neighbors, here’s a practice I’d never considered in that category before: Love Your Neighbor in the New Year: Answer Their Emails and Texts by Jen Pollock Michel via CT
5. Reading & Writing
Speaking of Sayable, Lore Ferguson Wilbert’s book Handle With Care: How Jesus Redeems the Power of Touch in Life and Ministry released this week. I’ve been enjoying getting to know Lore at her blog, Sayable, and am looking forward to reading the book. Here another favorite voice, Aarik Danielsen, interviews her at Curator Magazine: Handle With Care: Lore Ferguson Wilbert On Her New Book
“All through Scripture there’s this beloved call for the Christian to give attention to their first home: their story, their skin, their body, their most immediate boundary of being.”
6. Spiritual Direction & Disciplines
You hear me talk about Spiritual Direction a lot, but I haven’t actually written much here about what it looks like. May I point you to the Spiritual Direction index at The Sabbath Life? I’d love to hear what catches your attention!
7. Watching & Listening
I guess the Oscars are coming up, which means it’s the time each year I begin looking up these kinds of posts for recommendations on what to watch next: Academy Proves Again Oscars Don’t Represent Cinema’s Greatest Achievements by Gareth Higgins via Sojourners. Read all the way to the last paragraph for movie recommendations. (It appears the author of the article and I share a similar affection for one of my favorite movies of 2019.)
8. Wholeness & Healing
Oh, my. Christian Wiman’s essay on the meaning or non-meaning of suffering at Harper’s is stunning: The Cancer Chair
[H/T: Front Porch Republic]
9. Work & Callings
For those of you, like me, who hope to develop more integration between faith and work, here’s a list of resources and events that caught my attention this week :
Global Faith and Work Initiative (A ministry of Redeemer City to City)
Faith & Work Summer Ministry Intensive For Pastors & Ministry Leaders ( JULY 27-31, 2020 NEW YORK, NY)
Why Your Work Matters online course
10. Worship, Liturgy, & Church
Last weekend, I had the privilege of teaching a small breakout at the regional retreat for clergy in our diocese. I led a discussion on Anger, Sadness, and Joy in the Psalms based on plenary talks from Dr. David Taylor for the entire diocese back in November. I highly recommend listening to his three talks here. You can follow along here with the guide illustrated by his artist wife Phaedra.
Here’s a photo of our friend Rev. Jan Buchanan using the illustrated guide during David’s plenary talks last November (click through the photo to download the guide).
Here’s me trying to understand my role (and how to get my feet to reach the floor while in full view of an entire room) during the Synod panel discussion. (click through the photo to watch David’s talks.)
