A Spike in Misogynist Content Online

Nick Fuentes is a white nationalist and far-right political pundit whose “your body, my choice” misogynistic remark has recently gone viral, resulting in women across the country reporting a rise in online harassment and abuse in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s presidential election.

– Source

Write Isabelle Frances-Wright and Moustafa Ayad of the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD).

While Trump’s victory has been a focal point for communities which support restricting women’s reproductive rights, there was a spike in misogynist content in late October. ISD found a significant rise in posts focused on repealing the 19th Amendment (which gave women the right to vote). This appears to reflect the Harris campaign’s acute focus on securing a sizable majority of women voters. Many of these posts – which targeted women and supporters of their rights – faced quick rebuke. Their spread nevertheless demonstrated the influence of an increasingly vindicative set of online actors, who appear to be using the election results as a permission structure to more overtly and aggressively espouse narratives about curbing women’s rights.

If you’ve experienced or are experiencing online sexual harassment, visit the Online Harassment Resources page of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).




Related Off-site Links:
“Your Body, My Choice”: Attacks on Women Surge on Social Media Following Election – Clare Duffy (CNN, November 11, 2024).
Nick Fuentes Doxxed Following “Your Body, My Choice” Comments, Report Says – Brian Niemietz (New York Daily News via Yahoo! News, November 11, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Venice Williams on How We Get Through the Next Four Years
• Marianne Williamson on the 2024 Presidential Election Results
• Something to Think About This Election Day
• “The Movement of Love and Inclusion Has Just Been Unleashed” (2017)
• Photo of the Day – January 21, 2017
• Tiffany Wright: Quote of the Day – January 17, 2018
• R Thorpe: Quote of the Day – November 17, 2017

“A New Chapter of the Democratic Party Needs to Begin”

Marianne Williamson on NewsNation – 11/9/24

I feel that everything that went wrong [for the Democrats in this election] is what I’ve been saying would go wrong for the last year and a half.

I ran for president because I knew that the traditional Democratic playbook – the corporate Democrats are in charge of that playbook now – would not be enough to defeat Trump this time. I’ve said repeatedly that this election would be more like 2016 than like 2020, and it’s very clear to me that the elites of the Democratic Party and media don’t know how to read the room. The Democratic elite should resign their positions tonight. Many of those people have not sauntered out of their gated communities long enough to have made sense of what is going on out there.

Over the last year and a half, we could have been having a robust conversation about the following facts:

• 46 percent of Americans are regularly skipping meals in order to pay their rent.

• 70 to 90 million people are underinsured or uninsured.

• Over half of our bankruptcies are medical bankruptcies.

• One in four Americans live with medical debt.

• 1.3 million Americans are rationing their insulin.

Over 70 percent of Americans say that they are living with chronic economic anxiety.

People are feeling hopeless out in America now. In my opinion, Donald Trump offers false hope. He’ll name a pain, but he will not name a policy that’s going to fix it. But people will take false hope over no hope.

And the Democratic Party offered no hope. Instead of talking about these things, what the Democratic elite did was this: They just decided on an agenda. We weren’t even supposed to discuss what an agenda might be. They suppressed a presidential primary. They felt, in their smug arrogance, such a sense of entitlement: They would choose Joe, then they would choose Kamala, and they would suppress any candidate or any conversation about the wider issues that could have provided a compelling alternative – a compelling vision – for the American people.

~ Marianne Williamsom
“The Democratic Elite Should Resign”
The Free Press
November 6, 2024

Related Off-site Links:
Forging a Coalition of Conscience: This Isn’t the End. It’s the Beginning – Marianne Williamson (Transform, November 6, 2024).
Marianne Williamson: If the Democratic Electorate Was Exposed to Their Options, We Would Have Won – Jessie Watters Primetime (November 8, 2024).
Democrats Deserted Working Poor: Bishop William Barber on Healthcare, Living Wages, and Voting Rights – Democracy Now! (November 8, 2024).
U.S. Election Result: Where Did Harris and Her Campaign Go Wrong? – Dwayne Oxford (Al Jazeera, November 8, 2024).
Robin D. G. Kelley on Trump’s Election Win: “We Can’t Keep Relying on the Democratic Party” – Democracy Now! (November 7, 2024).
Bernie Sanders Shreds Democratic Party for Abandoning Working Class – Breaking Points (November 7, 2024).
Why Democrats Lose Even When Republicans Are So Endlessly Terrible – Chuck Idelson (Common Dreams, November 7, 2024).
Chronicle of a Defeat Foretold – Jeffrey St. Clair (CounterPunch, November 6, 2024).
“This Is a Collapse of the Democratic Party”: Ralph Nader on the Roots of Trump’s Win Over Harris – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Why Did the Democrats Lose? Because They Gave Up on the Working Class 40 Years Ago – Les Leopold (Common Dreams, November 6, 2024).
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: Democrats Demobilized Their Base. A Movement Is Now Needed to Oppose Trump – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Cenk Uygur: Democrats Have Failed Us – The Young Turks (November 5, 2024).

UPDATES: Democratic Senator Chris Murphy Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: “We Are Out of Touch” – The Secular Report (November 11, 2024).
The Male Vote: The Democrats’ “Fatal Miscalculation” and What Trump Got Right: An Interview with Richard Reeves, President of the American Institute for Boys and Men – Amanpour and Company (November 11, 2024).
Musa Al-Gharbi: Democrats Must Stop Shaming Voters – Undercurrents (November 12, 2024).
Jon Stewart Destroys “Woke” Dem Autopsy Takes – Krystal Ball (Breaking Points, November 12, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Marianne Williamson on the 2024 Presidential Election Results
• Venice Williams on How We Get Through the Next Four Years
• Something to Think About This Election Day
• Prayer of the Week
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Jeffrey C. Isaac: Quote of the Day – October 28, 2024
• Progressive Perspectives on the Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris
• Progressive Perspectives on an American Coronation
• Marianne Williamson: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is Not Enough to Win”
• “Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
• Marianne Williamson on How Centrist Democrats Abuse Voters with False Promises
• Cornel West: Quote of the Day – December 3, 2020
• Jeff Cohen on How Obama’s “Corporate Liberalism” Led to the Rise of Trump

Holding the Moment

Autumn, that universal symbol of change, gently suggests to us that winter is on the way as the leaves turn red, and somehow, equally gently and gradually, reminds us that nothing is permanent. . . . If the seasons change this way, then everything else probably does too, so holding the moment becomes important. Each event must be savoured for what it is, and nothing can bring it back. On the personal level, as Pico Iyer notes, we should “cherish the seasons inside us,” and “seek out changelessness in change.” Or, as the 19th-century French novelist and critic Jean-Baptiste Karr famously put it, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” [“The more it changes, the more it’s the same”]. Autumn somehow reminds us of this, too; it’s the season, Iyer says, “when everything falls away,” but at the same time it will be preparing to come back.

– John Butler
Excerpted from “A Review of Autumn Light:
Season of Fire and Farewells by Pico Iyer”
Asian Review of Books
June 8, 2019

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Season of the Soul
• Autumn: Season of Transformation and Surrender
• Time to Go Inwards
• Autumnal Thoughts and Visions (2022)
• Autumn . . . Within and Beyond (2021)
• Autumn . . . Within and Beyond (2018)
• Autumn . . . Within and Beyond (2016)
• O Sacred Season of Autumn
• “Thou Hast Thy Music Too”
• Autumn Psalm
• “This Autumn Land Is Dreaming”
• Autumn’s “Wordless Message”
• Autumnal (and Rather Pagan) Thoughts on the Making of “All Things New”
• Brigit Anna McNeill on Hearing the Wild and Natural Call to Go Inwards

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Venice Williams on How We Get Through the Next Four Years

You are awakening to the
same country you fell asleep to.
The very same country.
Pull yourself together.

And,
when you see me,
do not ask me
“What do we do now?
How do we get through
the next four years?”

Some of my Ancestors dealt with
at least 400 years of this
under worse conditions.

Continue to do the good work.
Continue to build bridges not walls.
Continue to lead with compassion.
Continue the demanding work
of liberation for all.
Continue to dismantle broken systems,
large and small.
Continue to set the best example
for the children.
Continue to be a vessel of nourishing joy.

Continue right where you are.
Right where you live into your days.

Do so in the name of
The Creator who expects
nothing less from each of us.

And if you are not “continuing”
ALL of the above,
in community, partnership, collaboration?
What is it you have been doing?
What is it you are waiting for?

~ Venice Williams
“Here’s How We Get Through the Next Four Years”
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
November 6, 2024

Related Off-site Links:
10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won – Daniel Hunter (Waging Nonviolence, November 6, 2024).
Forging a Coalition of Conscience: This Isn’t the End. It’s the Beginning – Marianne Williamson (Transform, November 6, 2024).
This Is Not the End of America – McKay Coppins (The Atlantic, November 1, 2024).
After the Election: A Call to Unity, Justice and Bold Action – Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (November 8, 2024).
Here’s What We Do Now: A Personal Note – Greg Palast (GregPalast.com, November 6, 2024).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Active Hope
• Why “Revolutionary Love” Gives Michelle Alexander Hope
• Something We Dare Call Hope
• “I Came Alive With Hope”
• Resilience and Hope
• Clarity and Hope
• In the Eye of the Storm . . . A Tree of Living Flame
• Cultivating Stillness
• Aligning With the Living Light
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Judy Cannato
• Carrying It On . . . Into the New Year
• Hope and Beauty in the Midst of the Global Coronavirus Pandemic

Image: Venice Williams, director of Alice’s Garden and The Table. She is also a lay minister, teacher, healer and facilitator. (Photo: Adam Carr)

Marianne Williamson on the 2024 Presidential Election Results

As always, I appreciate the incisive analysis of author and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, the "Cassandra of American politics."






UPDATE: This afternoon Marianne discussed the results of the 2024 election with Sky News UK presenter Mark Austin.





Related Off-site Links:
Forging a Coalition of Conscience: This Isn’t the End. It’s the Beginning – Marianne Williamson (Transform, November 6, 2024).
Chronicle of a Defeat Foretold – Jeffrey St. Clair (CounterPunch, November 6, 2024).
Trump Smashes Blue Wall, Eclipses His 2020 Record in Michigan, and Wins All Swing States – Rising (November 6, 2024).
“This Is a Collapse of the Democratic Party”: Ralph Nader on the Roots of Trump’s Win Over Harris – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Why Did the Democrats Lose? Because They Gave Up on the Working Class 40 Years Ago – Les Leopold (Common Dreams, November 6, 2024).
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: Democrats Demobilized Their Base. A Movement Is Now Needed to Oppose Trump – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Cenk Uygur: Democrats Have Failed Us – The Young Turks (November 5, 2024).

UPDATES: Robin D. G. Kelley on Trump’s Election Win: “We Can’t Keep Relying on the Democratic Party” – Democracy Now! (November 7, 2024).
Why Democrats Lose Even When Republicans Are So Endlessly Terrible – Chuck Idelson (Common Dreams, November 7, 2024).
Bernie Sanders Shreds Democratic Party for Abandoning Working Class – Breaking Points (November 7, 2024).
Democrats Deserted Working Poor: Bishop William Barber on Healthcare, Living Wages, and Voting Rights – Democracy Now! (November 8, 2024).
U.S. Election Result: Where Did Harris and Her Campaign Go Wrong? – Dwayne Oxford (Al Jazeera, November 8, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Something to Think About This Election Day
• Prayer of the Week
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Jeffrey C. Isaac: Quote of the Day – October 28, 2024
• Progressive Perspectives on the Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris
• Progressive Perspectives on an American Coronation
• Marianne Williamson: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is Not Enough to Win”
• “Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
• Marianne Williamson on How Centrist Democrats Abuse Voters with False Promises
• Cornel West: Quote of the Day – December 3, 2020
• Jeff Cohen on How Obama’s “Corporate Liberalism” Led to the Rise of Trump

Something to Think About This Election Day

– Art: Rick Frausto

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
• Prayer of the Week
• Final Thoughts on the 2024 Presidential Election
• Jeffrey C. Isaac: Quote of the Day – October 28, 2024


Related Off-site Links and Updates:
November’s Unsung Heroes: Election Workers – Tim Karr (Common Dreams, November 4, 2024).
When Do Polls Open and Close on Election Day 2024? Times to Know for Tuesday – Emily Hung (CBS News, November 4, 2024).
Harris and Trump Make Final Pitches in What Could Be One of Closest Elections in Modern U.S. History – Democracy Now! (November 5, 2024).
On the Eve of the U.S. Election, Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein Responds to Her Pro-Harris Critics – Dimitri Lascaris (Reason to Resist, November 4, 2024).
Claudia De la Cruz Presidential Campaign Announces Multi-State Agreement with Jill Stein and Cornel West Campaigns – Jordan Willow Evans (Independent Political Report, November 3, 2024).
This Is Not the End of America: “Democracy Lives in the People.” – McKay Coppins (The Atlantic, November 1, 2024).


Tuesday, 10:00 am
A Wild Election Is Coming to a Close – and No One Is Sure How It Will End – Domenico Montanaro (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Feeling the Stress of Election Day? Here Are a Few Healthy Ways to Cope – Obed Manuel (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Trump and Allies Have Primed Supporters to Falsely Believe He Has No Chance of Losing – Stephen Fowler (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Trump Tried to Steal the Vote in Georgia in 2020. Now Election Deniers Run Georgia’s Election System – Democracy Now! (November 5, 2024).
Harris Rode a Wave of Enthusiasm After She Took Over the Ticket. Does She Still Have It? – Elena Moore (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Besides Trump and Harris, Here Are the Third Party Candidates in U.S. Election Fray – The Week (November 5, 2024).
In Michigan’s Arab-American Epicenter, Support for Jill Stein – Mike Colias (The Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2024).
Will Kamala Harris Lose to Jill Stein in Michigan? – Amr Salahi (The New Arab, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 1:00 pm
Most Voters in Presidential Election Say U.S. Democracy Is Under Threat, Exit Polls Show – Joseph Ax (Reuters, November 5, 2024).
Six Things That Could Swing the Election in Favor of Trump or Harris – Joey Garrison (USA Today via Yahoo! News, November 5, 2024).
How To Break The Two-Party System: A Conversation with Briahna Joy Gray and Michael Tracey – System Update with Glenn Greenwald (November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 4:00 pm
Don’t Be Fooled by Early U.S. Vote Counts: They Might Be Misleading – Reuters (November 5, 2024).
The Associated Press Has Called Winners in Elections for More Than 170 Years. Here’s How It’s Done – Robert Yoon (AP News, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 7:00 pm
Polls in Swing States Begin to Close as Sharply Divided America Chooses Between Harris and Trump . . . or Opts to Go With Alternative Presidential Candidates – Zeke Miller, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert (AP News, November 5, 2024).
Election Night Interview with Dr. Jill Stein – Clyde Shabazz (In the Green TV, November 5, 2024).
Trump Wins Three States, Harris Takes Vermont as First Polls Close – Jarrett Renshaw, Gabriella Borter, Joseph Ax and Helen Coster (Reuters, November 5, 2024).
Here We Are, America, But How Did We Get Here? – Lynn Parramore (Common Dreams, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 8:00 pm

Tuesday, 10:00 pm
Trump Takes Lead in U.S. Presidential Race But Battleground States Still Too Close to Call – Joseph Ax, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer and Stephanie Kelly (AP News, November 5, 2024).
Trump Wins North Carolina in Sharp Blow to Harris Campaign – Elena Moore (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
AP Poll: Harris Voters Motivated by Democracy, Trump Supporters by Inflation and Immigration – Josh Boak and Linley Sanders (AP News, November 5, 2024).
Mood Shifts at Harris Watch Party as Results Come In – Ilana Dutton (NPR News, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 11:00 pm

Republicans Win Control of U.S. Senate, House Still Up In the Air – Andy Sullivan (Reuters, November 5, 2024).
In a First, U.S. Independent Turnout Tops Democrats, Ties Republicans – Reuters (November 5, 2024).
Election Night Interview with Jill Stein: “Kamala Harris Has No One to Blame But Herself” – Mohamed Hassan (Middle East Eye, November 5, 2024).


Wednesday, 1:00 am
Trump Wins Georgia, Moving Closer to Reclaiming the White House – AP News (November 6, 2024).
Fox News Projects Trump Wins U.S. Presidency – Joseph Ax, Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw and Helen Coster (Reuters, November 6, 2024).
Donald Trump Leads While Kamala Harris Election party Empties Out: Key Takeaways from the U.S. Election – Lucia Stein, Rebecca Armitage and Basel Hindeleh (ABC News, November 6, 2024).


Wednesday, 1:30 pm
Trump Wins Pennslyvania, Putting Him Three Electoral Votes Short of the Presidential Threshold – AP News (November 6, 2024).
Trump Claims Victory After Fox News Projects He Has Won U.S. Presidency – Joseph Ax, Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw and Helen Coster (Reuters, November 6, 2024).


Wednesday, 4:00 am

Donald Trump Has Won the Presidential Election and Will Return to the White House – Franco Ordoñez (NPR News, November 6, 2024).
Trump Wins; Congress Still in Limbo – Steve Peoples and Bill Barrow (AP News, November 6, 2024).
Brianha Joy Gray on the Green Anti-genocide Vote – Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté (The Grayzone, November 6, 2024).


Wednesday, 10:00 am
“The Confederacy Won”: Why Donald Trump’s Reelection Is a Win for White Supremacy, Xenophobia and Hate – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Trump’s Return to Power Fueled by Hispanic and Working-class Voter Support – Jason Lange, Bo Erickson and Brad Heath (Reuters, November 6, 2024).
“This Is a Collapse of the Democratic Party”: Ralph Nader on the Roots of Trump’s Win Over Harris – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Corporate Mainstream Media in Shambles Over Trump Win – Rising (November 6, 2024).
Here’s What We Do Now: A Personal Note – Greg Palast (GregPalast.com, November 6, 2024).

“I Feel So Proud to Be Part of This Movie . . . It’s Been a Transformative Experience for People Who Have Seen It”

André Holland on his latest film,
Exhibiting Forgiveness, the return of The Knick,
enrolling in Harvard Divinity School . . . and more

As an admirer of actor André Holland, I’m happy to share the interview he did today with Sherri Shepherd. In this interview, André talks about his latest film, Exhibiting Forgiveness, and provides an update on the return of the television series The Knick, a return that will see his character Dr. Algernon Edwards take center stage. André also talks about his recent enrollment in a theology class at Harvard Divinity School.





For more of André Holland at The Wild Reed, see:
• Exhibiting Forgiveness – André Holland’s “Acting Master Class”
• The Latest on the Return of Dr. Algernon Edwards
• André Holland: “There Are So Many Stories in Our Community That Are Yet to Be Told”
• Vulnerability Is Power
• Stephen A. Russell on Moonlight

Related Off-site Links:
For André Holland, Exhibiting Forgiveness Felt Like It Was “Screaming to Exist” – Marcus Jones (Indie Wire, October 18, 2024).
Exhibiting Forgiveness Review: André Holland Brings Passion to This Raw Family Drama – William Bibbiani (The Wrap, October 17, 2024).
Exhibiting Forgiveness: The Homegrown Talent of Actor André Holland – Javacia Harris Bowser (Birmingham Times, October 10, 2024).
André Holland Is Restoring an Old Movie Theater in His Alabama Birthplace – with His “Incredible” Mother – Jack Smart (People, October 19, 2024).
André Holland Devastates in a Heartbreaking Portrait of Reconciling Generational Family Pain and Healing – Rodrigo Perez (The Playlist, January 20, 2024).
Exhibiting Forgiveness Review: André Holland Powers Moving Father-Son Drama – Benjamin Lee (The Guardian, January 21, 2024).
In Exhibiting Forgiveness, André Holland Crafts a Work of Art – Therese Lacson (Collider, January 28, 2024).
André Holland Shines in Artist Titus Kaphar’s Sensitive Debut – Lovia Gyarkye (The Hollywood Reporter, January 20, 2024).
André Holland Grapples with Breaking the Cycle in Delicate Debut Feature – Jourdain Searles (IndieWire, January 20, 2024).
Visual Artist Titus Kaphar Makes a Personal Film Debut with Exhibiting Forgiveness – Lindsey Bahr (The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 23, 2024).
High Fyling Bird Is One of the Best Netflix Films You’re Not Watching – Dominic Griffin (Baltimore Beat, February 21, 2023).
Tiffany Boone Joins André Holland in Apple’s Huey P. Newton Series Big Cigar – Joe Otterson (Variety, June 15, 2022).
André Holland Talks The Knick, Research for the Role, Racism of the Era, Selma, and More – Christina Radish (Collider, October 17, 2014).

Prayer of the Week

Dorothy, our sister and comrade at the table of Jesus of Nazareth, when we are confronted by the insecurities and shallowness of those both in positions of worldly power and seeking such positions, remind us that we are here to be bravely and deeply caring of one another.

As we move into this critical week of our national elections, remind us that there is salvation in our solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized. Let this truth guide us in our voting choices.

In the midst of ongoing injustice, war, genocide, and environmental catastrophe, may we always draw strength to see and serve Christ among those who are hungry, those who suffer violence, those who are pushed to violence, those deprived of homes, those who are robbed of their wages, those who are constantly threatened with deportation, those who are refused medical treatment, and anyone whose presence is a threat because of being poor and forgotten in our “free” market society.

Dorothy Day, pray with us.

– Adapted from a prayer
by Ramoncito Razon
November 2, 2024

Related Off-site Links:
The Life and Spirituality of Dorothy Day – CatholicWorker.org (February 11, 2022).
Dorothy Day’s Radical Faith Casey Cep (The New Yorker, April 6, 2020).
Dorothy Day Graphic Novel Captures Nuance of Catholic Worker’s Legacy – Jeromiah Taylor (National Catholic Reporter, September 7, 2024).
The Common Vision of Pope Francis and Dorothy Day – Robert Ellsberg (U.S. Catholic, October 31, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Remembering Dorothy Day
• Remembering the “Radical Ethic” of the Catholic Worker Movement
• Rita Larivee on Being “Authorized by Baptism”
• Remembering Dorothy Day’s Response to the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima
• Why “Revolutionary Love” Gives Michelle Alexander Hope
• Remembering Kate McDonald, CSJ – 1929-2024
• Remembering Rita McDonald, CSJ – 1922-2023
• Celebrating the “Sisters of Peace”
• The Inspiring Brigid McDonald
• Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights
• The New Abolitionists
• On the Road with Punk Rockers and Homeless Mothers
• Letting Them Sit By Me
• A Prayer of Anchoring
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Dwelling in Peace
• Discerning and Embodying Sacred Presence in Times of Violence and Strife
• Called to the Field of Compassion
• Thoughts on Prayer in a “Summer of Strife”
• Prayer and the Experience of God in an Ever-Unfolding Universe
• Questioning God’s Benevolence in the Face of Tragedy
• A Prayer for Today . . . and the Year Ahead

Image: Bob Finch/Stanford University Libraries.

In the Garden of Spirituality – Gregory L. Jantz

“We are not on earth to guard a museum,
but to cultivate a flowering garden of life.”

– Pope John XXIII

The Wild Reed’s series of reflections on religion and spirituality continues with excerpts from Gregory L. Jantz’s Soul Care, a book of prayers, scriptures, and spiritual practices for “when you need hope the most.”

The excerpts I share this evening focus on two major spiritual practices identified and explored by Jantz: prayer and gratitude.

___________________

Perhaps the most important spiritual discipline to adopt in your daily life is prayer. Now, when I write "pray," I don’t mean muttering a stream of rote, repetitious phrases you heard in church a long time ago. I’m talking about regular, heartfelt conversations with the one who created you, who loves you, and who desperately wants you to know him[/her/them] as intimately as he[/she/they] knows you.

So what should you talk about? Everything! There is no problem too big or too small to go to God with for help. . . . Ask God for wisdom and guidance. Ask God to give you the courage and strength to get through the tough times. But don’t stop there. Tell God about all the wonderful things that are happening in your life as well. Thank God for the daily blessings of family and friends. Share your accomplishments, your dreams, and your goals for the future. Talk to God about every aspect of your life, good and bad. It’s so easy to get mired in negativity. Regularly scheduled prayer time provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect on and express gratitude for everything that is going right in our lives.

If you’re not used to talking with God or you aren’t sure how or where to start, try writing God a letter or pairing your prayer time with another activity like going for a walk. Whatever you do, don’t overthink it! God isn’t concerned with eloquence or fancy language. God just wants to hear from you. So be yourself. Before you know it, you’ll be looking forward to your daily quiet time with God. You may even start talking with God throughout your day! Nothing soothes the soul and quiets the mind like quality time spent in the company of a dear and trusted friend. So get into the habit of giving yourself a daily dose of hope. God would love to hear from you!

. . . Why should we make a habit of regularly experiencing and expressing gratitude? Because simply put, gratitude fosters optimism, and optimism fuels hope. And hope is what gives us the strength to keep moving forward on even our darkest days. That’s why it’s hard to imagine more effective soul medicine than gratitude – it’s impossible to feel grateful and hopeless at the same time!

Granted, sometimes when we’re really struggling, gratitude can be hard to muster. So start with the small things. Anyone can come up with those – and the more whimsical, the better. For example, I’m grateful for ice cream and for the inspired genius who invented it. I’m grateful that freshly mown grass is part of my world on summer evenings. I’m grateful for how it smells and how it feels on bare feet. I’m even grateful for rainy days, because I love the way the air smells after a storm passes. As you have your daily conversations with God, make a habit of thanking God for something that brings you joy.

The medieval Christian philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart once said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” And if you think about it, the list of things we can and should be thankful for – even in our darkest moments – is practically inexhaustible. So say thank you – out loud and with gusto – for teriyaki sauce or butterflies or kites or Mozart . . . anything that has ever made you smile. Say thank you for hot showers and soft towels. . . . For tulips poking out of the dirt in the spring and that magic moment when the lights go down in the movie theater.

The wonderful thing about gratitude is that it is a multiplier – not of the beauty and good all around us in the world (that never changes) but of our awareness of it and of the loving God responsible for it all. When dark thoughts threaten to push everything else aside, practicing purposeful gratitude to our Creator is a powerful way to push back.

– Gregory L. Jantz
Excerpted from Soul Care:
Prayers, Scriptures, and Spiritual Practices
for When You Need Hope the Most
Tyndale Momentum, 2019
pp. 3-4 and 23-25

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Giving Thanks: A Spiritual Act of Trust
• Grief and Gratitude
• A Sacred Pause
• Aligning With the Living Light
• Mystical Participation
• A Season of Listening
• Returning the Mind to God
• The Source Is Within You
• The Soul’s Beloved
• You Are My Goal, Beloved One
• Be In My Mind, Beloved One
• Your Peace Is With Me, Beloved One
• Resting in the Presence of the Beloved
• Finding Balance in the Presence of the Beloved
• Stepping Out of Time and Resting Your Mind
• In the Stillness and Silence of This Present Moment
• The Beauty and Challenge of Being Present in the Moment
• Today I Will Be Still
• Cultivating Stillness
• I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
• Love’s the Only Dance
• In This Time of Liminal Space

Others highlighted in The Wild Reed’s “In the Garden of Spirituality” series include:
Zainab Salbi | Daniel Helminiak | Rod Cameron | Paul Collins | Joan Chittister | Toby Johnson | Joan Timmerman (Part I) | Joan Timmerman (Part II) | Uta Ranke-Heinemann | Caroline Jones | Ron Rolheiser | James C. Howell | Paul Coelho | Doris Lessing | Michael Morwood | Kenneth Stokes | Dody Donnelly | Adrian Smith | Henri Nouwen | Diarmuid Ó Murchú | L. Patrick Carroll | Jesse Lava | Geoffrey Robinson | Joyce Rupp | Debbie Blue | Rosanne Cash | Elizabeth Johnson | Eckhart Tolle | James B. Nelson | Jeanette Blonigen Clancy | Mark Hathaway (Part I) | Mark Hathaway (Part II) | Parker Palmer | Karen Armstrong | Alan Lurie | Paul Wapner | Pamela Greenberg | Ilia Delio | Hazrat Inayat Khan | Andrew Harvey | Kabir Helminski | Beatrice Bruteau | Richard Rohr (Part I) | Richard Rohr (Part II) | Judy Cannato | Anthony de Mello | Marianne Williamson | David Richo | Gerald May | Thomas Crum | Pema Chödrön | Peng Roden Her

Opening image: Michael J. Bayly.

The Brilliance of Andor

I consider Andor to be one of the greatest television series ever made.

As I’ve noted previously, Andor is a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which in turn serves as an immediate prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).

Andor stars Diego Luna, reprising his role as Cassian Andor (left) in Rogue One.

Like Rogue One, Andor has a much more grittier look and feel – and far more complex characters – than any other movie or series in the Star Wars franchise. This definitely goes a long way in accounting for my interest in, and appreciation for, both Rogue One and Andor.

The first season of Andor was released on the Disney+ streaming platform in 2022. The second (and final) season is scheduled for release early next year.

In the lead-up to season two, I’ll be sharing a series of posts celebrating Andor. I start this evening with “The Brillance of Andor,” a 25-minute commentary/review of season one by the YouTube channel That0therGeorge.

There are, of course, spoilers. So if you’re yet to watch season one, you may want to do so before watching the following video. And if you have already seen season one, you’re in for a real treat as That0therGeorge does, well, a brilliant job in both recapping and insighfully commenting on Andor. There is, however, one aspect of the video that bothers me, and that’s the occasional insertion of brief snippets from other films totally unrelated to the Stars Wars franchise, like Spiderman, Planet of the Apes, and a couple of other ones I don’t recognize. I’m thinking this was done with some kind of comic intent in mind, but for me it doesn’t work at all, and no doubt confuses anyone new to Andor. It’s a minor quibble, however, as overall That0therGeorge’s take on Andor is both well cradted and well worth watching. Enjoy!






For more about Andor at The Wild Reed, see:
• The Revolution Will Be Televised
• Andor: The Star Wars Franchise’s “First Piece of Universally Excellent Television”

Related Off-site Links:
Everything We Know About Andor Season 2: Release Window, Plot, Cast, and More – Fran Ruiz (Space, October 16, 2024).
Andor Season 2: Everything We Know – Josh Rosenberg (Esquire, August 12, 2024).
Rumor: Andor Season 2 to Bring Back Andy Serkis as Kino Loy – Ishita Verma (Super Hero Hype, October 28, 2024).
Diego Luna Says Andor Season 2 Turns Rogue One Into a “Different Film” – Dalton Ross (Entertainment Weekly, August 15, 2024).