Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for August 31, 2017
Contemplify Nonrequired Reading List Email for August 31, 2017
The August NonRequired Reading List
Happy end of August all,
I miss riding the school bus. You know that kid who stared out the window, daydreaming from the moment they were picked up by that big yellow bus? That was me. It was a spacious break from the hustle of classes, basketball practice, and high school posturing...it was imaginative freedom. Decades later, I have to recreate that space amidst the bustle of work emails, grocery shopping trips and family routines. Those stolen moments of succulent wonder that drop you behind your crazed addictive thought patterns to see reality from a deeper seat of wholeness. I don’t pretend to live in that space, but like you, I taste it from time to time within the activity of life. When my wife’s laughter bounces off the ceiling. The first sip of coffee in the morning. Friends gathered and with a sense of ease in their eyes. Troubling news on the radio that spurs you to compassionate action beyond yourself.
Kindling any sort of examined life begins by paying attention to life as it unfolds. It’s a partnership of attention and action. With that in mind, I hope the August NonRequired Reading List creates a yellow school bus moment for you.
‘The Old Stoic’ by Emily Brontë (Read at Poets.org)
Charlotte Brontë had this to say about her little sister, “My sister Emily loved the moors...She found in the bleak solitude many and dear delights, and the best loved was--liberty.’ The brief and punchy poem, ‘The Old Stoic’ exemplifies this. Emily holds a clarity with a touch of wildness that pierces the reader of any doubt of where her loyalties are held. Reading this poem slowly, this is the line that made my breath leap out of my mouth in order that I might catch it:
Through life and death a chainless soul,
With courage to endure.
Enduring this life with courage is damn hard work. We all should really congratulate ourselves more often when we endure with courage.The crafty voices in the crowd are apt madmen who love the hard sell - buy this, be that, pretend more. The chainless soul is free to tune out these voices that promise everything, so that it can seek to follow the wisdom already baked into your being. This poem has been around since the 19th century, may it continue to be a north star for those striving for a chainless soul. Is there anything those Brontë sisters can’t do?
Letters of Note by Shaun Usher (Get it at the Public Library or Amazon)
Letter writing is a favorite pastime of mine that in recent years has become more of a forgotten pastime. This book should change that. Putting pen to paper, to share a word of encouragement or reflection with a friend across the country is one of the slow joys in this world. Shaun Usher has made a career out of combing through and sharing the most beautiful letters ever written in his books and website. It is easy to fall prey to nostalgia of handwritten posts, but what draws me to Usher’s collection is the immediacy of the exchange. Brief snippets of letters will not do them justice, but read a couple like these to see if they stir your own reflection as they did mine: Kurt Vonnegut’s letter to his parents regarding his tenure as a prisoner of war, a hilarious ‘personal’ letter from Steve Martin to a fan, and Milada Horáková’s letter to her daughter the day before her execution. These letters just may inspire you to write your own (If you do go the extra step beyond the website and get the book, read ‘Live Like a Might River’ by Ted Hughes to his son, Nicholas. A barnburner of beautiful crafted fatherly advice.)
Being a Meditation on the Power and Glory of Folk Music by Grant Alden (Read it at davidrawlingsmusic.com)
Typically reviews on music bring to mind that old maxim, ‘talking about music is like dancing about architecture’. If this is true, this piece may encourage you to dance about the Empire State Building. Reading this poetic homage to folk music and the latest release by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, you can picture Alden hoisting a glass in a toast as he pierces the heart of all folk music lovers. You can listen to the album for free through NPR here. The delight for me is in hearing this album front to back, and then reading Alden’s words. He pulls the feelings that I experienced from the recesses of my being and articulated them on paper. The legacy of folk music is alive and well in those who embody it. It’s free, it’s swapped, it’s stolen and given. As Alden puts it,
“It is a quest for a nonspecific kind of immortality. For a song or a phrase or a singular guitar line which survives past even the memory of your name.
It is the plain, simple truth of fun. Of human connection. Of shared emotion, even the hurting part.
It is the search for another song which makes a little boy sit on a couch quietly pounding his feet in time with a chorus he wants to hear over and over again. All his life.”
Contemplify Update
Contemplify is now on social media (if you’re into that sort of thing, I’m still not sure I am) and you can follow this grand experiment of @Contemplify on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And here is a photo of the books that I’m excited to be diving into next.
The three most recent episodes of Contemplify…
Episode 037: Exploring the Silence and Laughter of Eternity with Carl McColman
Episode 036: Thomas Merton, Wisdom Sophia and a Dash of Pink Floyd with Christopher Pramuk
(Bonus Episode! Voicemail Series Edition) Tasha Wahl on Discovering a God of Love in ‘The Shack’
(Available at iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean, Overcast, Google Play or Contemplify.com)
Thank you for your eyes and ears around the Contempify basecamp! It brings joy to my heart to know that such a community of engaged listeners and practitioners is out there kindling the examined life.
Listen well + read often,
Paul
P.S. If you are feeling the warmth around the Contemplify fire, toss another log in by reviewing it on iTunes. It would mean the world to me (and thanks to all who have already done so)!