Many years ago, at a sleepover, I picked up an adult’s diary and began to read. I got as far as the first sentence before slamming it shut and carefully replacing it on the shelf. The person who penned those opening lines couldn’t possibly be the same person who’d earlier bought me an ice-cream cone! I knew the adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover” but surely if someone smiled all the time, they couldn’t simultaneously endure such inner turmoil, could they? Fast forward to the present moment. If you were to reach onto my (secret, hidden) bookshelf and pull down any one of my leather journals, the first words you would read would be: BURN ME. Mine is a life of adversary, jealousy and mountains of insecurity… at least according to the crazy diatribe that is my diary. Like millions of others, I’m not alone trying to make sense of the world and my place in it by pushing words onto a page. But, loathe to offer up my unedited ramblings for general consumption, allow me instead to direct you to some brave souls who aren’t afraid to open their hearts and minds and offer some worthy reflections in the midst of this dark mid-winter.
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This is Your Brother - Reflections on TrueCity 2019 /
Papa Santos is a father after my own heart. When his now grown sons would bicker, argue, and escalate to blows, he would make them take off their shirts and hug one another bare-chested.
“This is your brother. Your only brother.”
He would solemnly repeat this mantra, ignoring the smell of their perspiring bodies, only allowing them to untangle themselves when their anger subsided. Today the sibling relationship bears the fruit of reconciliation from the loving persistence of their father.
I’m not sure child psychologists would prescribe this unorthodox method of conflict resolution today, but I still love the image of angry, sweaty brothers locked in a close embrace. In a world of cynical adversaries shooting pointed barbs across the Twittersphere, I could sell tickets to a show where people who find themselves at odds get in the ring and are forced into a drawn-out, skin on skin hug. No talking points, no agendas, no one single winner. Just Papa Santos chanting (whispering?): “This is your brother.”
Read MoreChastised By the Lady With the Mary Magdalene Tattoo /
I’m not that into sermons, but I love to be put in my place. These days it happens less and less from the pulpit and more via Memoir. You might think that if I wanted guidance, the place to start might be the Christian Living or Spiritual Growth shelf, but you’d be wrong, because those books read like self-help or Hallmark Cards. They lack the essential ingredient I need to engage: story. Just like the Bible is story, and Judeo-Christian celebration is always about re-visiting what God has done, Memoir reminds me how to live. Lately, I’ve read a number of thoughtful, personal memoirs, but I connected particularly with this one.
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