I finished Peter Rollins' recent collection of tales the other day. He hesitates to call them parables but he is hoping that is what they will be to the reader. "Parables subvert [the] desire to make faith simple and understandable. They do not offer the reader clarity, for they refuse to be captured in the net of a single interpretation and instead demand our eternal return to their words, our wrestling with them, and our puzzling over them...A parable does not primarily provide information about our world...the parable transforms the way we hold reality, and thus changes reality itself." Some of the stories are adapted from Scriptural stories and parables, others are completely original. It's a small book and the stories are very short -- sometimes less than two pages. Each is followed by a short commentary describing what prompted him to write the story or giving some of the philosophical background that went into it. (He notes in the introduction that these commentaries are not meant as explanations but rather as "place[s] of entry for the uninitiated.") The book is separated into three parts, titled "Beyond Belief", "G-O-D-I-S-N-O-W-H-E-R-E", and "Transfigurations."

I left the book on the table beside my bed and read a parable a night for a while, which is probably a better way to go then simply plowing through the entire collection at once. Take a listen to "The Orthodox Heretic" in the YouTube clip to the side and see some other resources linked below to see if you'd be interested in the book.

More Peter Rollins resources

• The Rapture - A tract that I helped Peter prepare (in the style of Jack T. Chick). Although this story is not in the book, it will give you a good idea of what to expect.
• Translating the Word - in which Peter shares another of the stories and spoils the plot of The Book of Eli
• The Third Mile - Peter reading another story from the book.
• No Conviction - Peter reading another story from the book.
• Other Peter Rollins video - A collection of other videos (not all related to this book)

Find the book at Paraclete Press | AbeBooks | Amazon

*Note: Peter has just updated his website with this info: "To aid in this time of reflection I have chosen seven parables to supplement the thirty-three already found in The Orthodox Heretic. If you purchase a copy of the book from Paraclete Press (up until the beginning of Lent – 17th February) you will receive these additional parables. This means that you will have one to reflect upon for each day of Lent."

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination (Elizabeth McCracken) and Waiting With Gabriel (Amy Kuebelbeck) were part of the reading that I did after Cara's death and they would be useful for anyone who wanted to do some reading specifically about infant loss, keeping in mind that everyone's story and everyone's pain is unique.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination

Replica deals with two children: the first stillborn and the second born healthy. (McCracken front-loads the book this way: "A child dies in this book: a baby. A baby is stillborn. You don't have to tell me how sad that is: it happened to me and my husband, our baby, a son...A baby is born in this book, too. That is to say, a healthy baby, our second child.") This is the more literary of the two and is well-written, although after reading it Janel turned to me and said, "Well, that's a good reminder not to get too self-absorbed."

Waiting with Gabriel

Kuebelbeck links a number of news items from her site, which are also helpful:

• MSNBC: When a baby is destined to die
  "...But the paradox of modern medicine is that knowing doesn’t always mean the outcome will be better. Sometimes you can just see death coming from a long way off..."
• New York Times: A Place to Turn When a Newborn Is Fated to Die
  "...Traditionally, doctors and nurses dealt with babies born with fatal anomalies by whisking them away from their mothers to die. But in the 1970s, a perinatal bereavement movement began offering parents another way to deal with the death of a child at birth, by acknowledging the grief they feel and by creating family and religious rituals around a stillbirth or early death...
  
  “I tell them this will shake up their relationships with their family and friends, it will shake what they believe about the world and their faith,” said the Rev. Peter Lund, a United Church of Christ minister and chaplain of the hospice program at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
  
  The questions the experience unearths are the most essential people face, he added. “How does your inner life fare, your relationship with God, as this progresses? How do you deal with everything that comes up? And how does that echo inside you?”"

Find Waiting With Gabriel on Abebooks.
Find An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination on Abebooks.

Related:

• Reflections on the life and death of Caritas Anne, our daughter
• Birthing a Dying Child

Haïti, mon pays,
wounded mother I'll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrete nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.

In the forest we lie hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.

Haïti, never free,
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm

I highly recommend David Dark's latest book. It's woven together from personal anecdotes, scriptural phrases, and cultural artifacts in an entertaining and provocative manner. Take a look at the topics he delves into (taken from the table of contents) to whet your appetite:

From Englewood Review of Books (ERB), who have named Sacredness the 2009 Englewood Book of the Year:

NOTE: ERB notes that, while supplies last, a free download of the audiobook version of this book is available. Get the audiobook.

Find this book on Abebooks.

This sermon is from Del Glick, senior pastor at WCF and was delivered on December 13, 2009. The birth imagery was hard for me to hear given our own recent and tragic birthing story, but I found it also to be a powerful image which Del draws from near the end of the sermon. And while I may take issue with the potential for reductionism in the midwife's phrase in the story from Elizabeth Myer Boulton ("This is what you were created to do") I don't think it needs to be read that way. Add a comment

A quote from my novel (Clutching Dust and Stars) was featured in today's Daily Asterisk. (Sign up for the Daily Asterisk if you'd like to get "a provocative quote for thought and discussion" in your inbox each weekday)

I've got a few 2009 "indie/folk/rock" albums that have been on heavy rotation lately (not an exhaustive list): Hospice (by the Antlers), Time to Die (by the Dodos), xx (by the xx), and more recently Curse Your Branches (by David Bazan). You can play them through this page if you want to take a listen.

Hospice (the Antlers)

I picked this one up in early March for a couple of bucks (thanks Amie Street!) without knowing much about it and my initial impressions (good, although depressing) still stand. The March issue was a self-released album (later to be remastered and rereleased by French Kiss in August) and it is "[c]entered around a relationship with a terminally ill child, and evocatively spun from eerie hospital scenery, snippets of conversations with doctors, terrifying dreams, and the periodic intrusions of Sylvia Plath, it becomes a broad meditation on guilt, duty, mortality, and hope in the face of hopelessness." [link] Needless to say, due to our own situation in recent months the imagery and subject matter took on a much more poignant role in my interaction with this album. Liner notes are available here.
Find it on AmieStreet | Amazon

Curse Your Branches (David Bazan)

Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion) has put together an album that is very up-front about his move away from traditional Christianity (the most common catch-phrase in regard to the album is that it is a "break up album with God" although Bazan clarifies slightly by saying that "it's breaking up with a set of ideas that themselves are often mistaken for the person of God, or a sort of God character." [link]).
Find it on Amazon

xx (The xx)

"Even at its best, ethereal electronic pop music is prone to a number of faults — trite lyrics, for one. Complacent, redundant melodies and sounds for another. But with xx, the British band The xx has crafted a dreamy record that transcends all these problems; it’s an album that’s both warm and cool, carnal and affecting. It’s an impressive feat, considering this is the debut album from a quartet of 20-year-olds..." [link]
Find it on Amiestreet | Amazon

Time to Die (the Dodos)

Third album from the Dodos and it's more polished and poppy than the previous two, but still a good listen.
Find it on Amiestreet | Amazon

UPDATE: A few more that deserve mention

The Life Of The World To Come (the Mountain Goats)

"On The Life Of The World To Come, John Darnielle interlinks all of the topics that he’s ever explored, including personal faith and tragedy." (-Amie St.)
Find it on AmieStreet | Amazon

Lost Channels (Great Lake Swimmers)

"Sweeping, melodic folk rock inspired by the majestic Thousand Islands region of Ontario." (-Amie St.)
Find it on AmieStreet | Amazon

Noble Beast (Andrew Bird)

"Once again Andrew Bird proves he’s a master at combining classical training with his experience playing swing-jazz and folk music." (-Amie St.)
Find it on AmieStreet | Amazon

Elvis Perkins In Dearland (Elvis Perkins In Dearland)

"On his second album Elvis Perkins makes the transition from intimate songsmith to charismatic bandleader, incorporating fanfare brass and New Orleans jazz." (-Amie St.)
Find it on AmieStreet | Amazon

Wendell Berry was on the Diane Rehm show yesterday (you can stream the segment here) to talk about his new book of poetry (Leavings) and climate change, among other things. He read a number of the poems, including the one below. A friend posted it today on Facebook "in 'honor' of the Afghani war escalation announcement" and I thought I'd add it here as well because it's a good one. The last line is a bit like a punch in the stomach to me at the moment.

Find this book on Abebooks.

I attended the annual membership meeting for the biodiesel co-op that we are a part of and it was quite interesting. Plans to produce our biodiesel from restaurant waste veggie oil have been moving along, and the "Brew Crew" has done a number of test batches already. There are (as usual) a lot of details that are being worked out for the future of the co-op, but (as usual) a lot to be excited about. One of the updates was the fact that the co-op is now also producing a multi-purpose soap, which can be used to wash hands, wash dishes, scrub floors... It is produced with the glycerine byproduct from the process that turns the restaurant grease into biodiesel...so the byproduct of the food system becomes fuel, and the byproduct of creating that fuel can be turned into soap. Love it! We're currently testing the soap here at our house and I have to say I'm quite impressed. Here's the writeup about the soap:

The co-op is currently in the midst of a membership and fundraising drive, so if you're interested, consider these options:

• If you have a diesel vehicle or an interest in being a part of the co-op -- become a member!
• If you want to support green energy and/or local solutions -- buy some soap or make a donation!

More about the membership drive:

I have to say that I can feel Old Mr. Johnson's pain as he keeps finding that the darn cat has come back again, and again. My (almost) two-year-old daughter is infatuated with this classic 1988 short film from Cordell Barker and the National Film Board of Canada and I have seen it way too many times... At least it's a good diversion from the YouTube videos of cats eating with chopsticks, which is usually the alternative with her.

Our daughter, Caritas, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and resultant hydrocephalus at 21 weeks in utero. She was born prematurely at 29 weeks on October 16 and she died a day and a half later. We shared some of our reflections at the memorial service on Thursday, October 22. After the service, a number of people asked us to share those reflections more broadly. Although they are deeply personal, we were encouraged to share them in the hopes that others may find them helpful as they process their own unique losses. Click below to read them.