Current Events for Advent

Advent Calendar Cat

“Pardon my sanity in a world insane.”
Emily Dickinson

Some articles for each week of Advent,
preparing our hearts to make the world
a better place in the New Year:

The First Week ~ Hope

"The short history of global living conditions
and why it matters that we know it"
~ Updated in 2019 ~
by Max Roser

The Second Week ~ Peace

"The Enemy Within:
Our grasp on what it takes
to sustain a democracy is slipping"
~ December 2019 ~
by James Mattis

The Third Week ~ Love

"Feeding the Hungry
is Our Moral and Social Responsibility"
~ March 29, 2019 ~
by Monica Brown Moss

The Fourth Week ~ Joy

"A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Is More Than a Feel-Good Movie"
~ November 21, 2019 ~
by David Sims

P.S.

GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT!

There is SO MUCH food in this country -- so much, in fact, that, for better or worse, we often throw away the excess without even flinching. Please GIVE IT AWAY and let people eat it -- not the trash food, but the good food. There's plenty of that too! This isn't about who "deserves" food -- there is no such thing. It is about distributing the bounty in a land of plenty.

As Richard Rohr says in Falling Upward: "There is no longer any question 'Does he or she deserve it [love, inclusion, acceptance, forgiveness, the loving gaze of God]?' What we received was totally undeserved itself" (160).

P.P.S.
Yes, we are all connected:
"The World as 100 People"

Saving What We Love ~ Stronger Tomorrow

"What does it matter if I’ve been
discouraged or encouraged over the years?
This thing’s got to be done. It’s not a question
of how I feel from moment to moment. . . .
Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed
at failure and the disheartening effects of
ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics,
but never give up."

~ Marjory Stoneman Douglas ~
(1890 - 1998)

Read more -- about this amazing woman after whom the Parkland, Florida, high school is named: American journalist, author, women's suffrage advocate, conservationist and defender of the Everglades

“That's how we're gonna win.
Not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
~ from The Last Jedi

“The Last Jedi . . . also features a significant new character named Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) who . . . doesn’t want her sacrifice to have been in vain. . . .

"Rose is a wonderfully sneaky character, in that she’s set up as a plucky sidekick but almost immediately becomes a crucial teacher, and equal partner, for Finn. Her certitude about the Resistance is not tied up in a noble idea of heroism, but in her understanding of what they’re trying to overthrow. . . .

'That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love,' she tells Finn. It’s a motto that might sound trite, but it’s a beautiful summation of what Johnson is trying to grapple with. The First Order is evil, yes, but the Resistance isn’t just good because they’re against them; the rebels are also trying to create a better world, and to protect a cause the rest of the galaxy can rally to. It’s a message Johnson drives home with the film’s final image—one of the stable boys on Canto Bight, sweeping the steps for his master, and looking up at the stars, dreaming of a more hopeful future."

Read more: "The Last Jedi's Biggest Storytelling Innovation"
By David Sims

A Barn Named Kittredge ~ Kitti for short!

"May our minds be stronger tomorrow."
~ from Brigsby Bear
"But it soon becomes apparent that the conversations would only be normal if the child were 8 years old and the family belonged to a cult. James’ only conversations revolve around Brigsby Bear, never mind the weird handshake ritual of the family when they say in unison, 'May our minds be stronger tomorrow.' They wear gas masks to go outside, which James does on occasion. . . . James can’t help but relate everything he sees to Brigsby Bear; he won’t stop talking about it.

"His parents try everything to divert his attention from the show and dismiss it as unimportant. . . . But James is fixated and will not abandon his love for Brigsby Bear. Fortunately for him, his new friends find James’ favorite show entertaining and his enthusiasm contagious. One by one, those around James learn to accept his obsession and jump on board . . . ."

Things to Track Down

1. Quotation along the lines of:
"Mental health = a commitment reality."

2. A video example of human cooperation
-- I think shown by Christopher Hitchens --
of a toddler holding a door open for an adult
with an armful of books.