Ritual and Rhubarb Pie: Call to Process and Support to Basics

For a month I've been too busy to blog. First a trigger to San Francisco, where I enjoyed volunteering at the folk festival at Burke's, my granddaughters' school. See Lola above on a pony ride. Then book events accelerated. At the Song to Action Conference in Milwaukee I shared a board with Gretchen Minney, generous and interesting author of Called: Women See the Part of the Divine, a word that dovetailed perfectly with the center of the conference.

I ran into many old friends and sold some books, and I hope Gretchen will be a long-time friend. Some great speakers opened new worlds at the plenary sessions and brought me back to reasoning around the rudiments of religion: Asra Normani, a bold Muslim woman who dared to sit in the face of the mosque in Morgantown, West Virginia, talked about "Bad Girls of Faith." Here's a trailer for the PBS documentary about her struggle, "The Mosque in Morgantown." Shane Claiborne, an activist and father of The Mere Way in inner city Philadelphia, spoke about grass roots organizing and simple living. I loved seeing journalist and author Bob McClory again and bought his new book, Radical Disciple, about Father Mike Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina on Chicago's South side. A movie about Father Pfleger was originally directed by David Axelrod, but he gave it up when he got a better job. The finished film, directed by Bob Hercules, shows bright and controversial preaching, social action, music and dance.The day later the conference I spoke on Navigating the Maze of Going at the Crossroads program of Old St. Pat's, and once again felt the burden of so many people's grief. They'd lost husbands, children, and stillborn infants, and some had lost more than one. People seemed to consider the shared stories helped. Now I'm judging essays for the Skyway Conference Writing Festival and feeling awed by the province of choosing. Looking ahead to my fall to Hyde Park to take on Thursday, November 18, 6 pm at 57th St. Books, 1301 E. 57th Street. Here's something very awesome: the random act of culture forwarded to me by my ally and poet, Larry Janowski. A case for celebration.