Open Mind with Cecilia Skidmore, MA, LPC
Upcoming Shows... 
Open Mind airs: Sunday mornings at 7:30am and Sunday afternoons at 3:00pm on 88.5 fm, Grand Rapids, MI.
Sunday, July 25, 2010: PETER HELLER, author of "KOOK: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave."
Whether in poetry or in prose, Peter Heller writes about adventures. He is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine, National Geographic, and Men’s Journal, and is a regular contributor on National Public Radio. He is also the author of two other books: The Whale Warriors: Hell or
High Water and Set Free in China.
Heller has had a lot of fun traveling around the world, doing wild and crazy things. He has also had many girlfriends, some of whom he really loved--but he just couldn’t break away from his adventurous life long enough to settle down with anyone. For his most recent adventure, Heller decided to try and go from where he was, a novice surfer--called a KOOK--to a surfer capable of mastering a big hollow wave: in six months.
The term KOOK isn’t benign. It describes someone who is clueless – not just about surfing, but about all the social norms related to the
sport: talking about unimportant things while waiting for a wave, acting like a fool when and if he manages to stand up on his board. This time, rather than leaving his girlfriend Kim behind, Heller took her along, hoping it would strengthen their relationship. In some real ways, making the commitment to become a good surfer called out in Heller the same qualities that he would need to make a good partner in life. His openness to the new skill of surfing, and his willingness to look stupid and make mistakes--all the while not knowing what would come next--are all essential components in a strong, loving relationship. Heller makes a good story of both in his new book, and takes us all along for the ride.
Join me this Sunday as I talk with Peter Heller about love, life--and catching the perfect wave.
-Cecilia
Visit Peter Heller's website at www.peterheller.net.
Visit Google Books to read an excerpt from KOOK.
Sunday, July 18, 2010: JULIE GENOVESE, author of "Nothing Short of Joy."
Born a dwarf with degenerative arthritis, Julie Genovese's path included many visits to the Center for Birth Defects as a child where she was displayed on a
table and studied by genetic specialists who rarely had the opportunity to see a case of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia. With a childhood rife with humiliation and heartache, Julie was terrified she would never find happiness. Lifelong physical limitations, as well as bi-lateral hip and knee replacements, left deep emotional scars. Through two brain surgeries, lots of trial, lots of error, and endless soul searching, Julie took charge of her own Eden and would stop at nothing short of joy.
"Julie Genovese is an inspiration and a teacher for those who want to heal what can't be cured. So pain, hate and fear lead us to faith, hope and love."
- Bernie Siegel, M.D. (author of Peace, Love and Healing)
Visit Julie's website, at www.nothingshortofjoy.com.
Sunday, July 11, 2010: LINDA GREENLAW, author of "Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain's Return to the Sea."
Linda Greenlaw isn't your average fisherman.
Though she lives in Isle au Haut, Maine, Greenlaw has spent much of her life
navigating the unpredicatable wilderness of the ocean. She is the only female swordfishing captain in the United States, and one of only a very few female fishermen. Greenlaw has a degree in English, and started working on swordfish boats as a way to earn money to put herself through college.
Greenlaw caught national attention when she appeared in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm; Junger called her, "one of the best captains...on the entire East coast." Tune in this Sunday to hear about her most recent book, in which she tells of her return to the open sea after a decade of being a lobsterman in Maine.
Also, visit Linda Greenlaw's website, here.
Sunday, July 4, 2010: GARY LACHMAN, author of "Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung's Life and Teachings."
Gary Lachman is one of today's most widely read and respected writers on esoteric and occult themes. His writing has been published in several national journals on philosophy, esotericism, and modern culture, and his books-including Rudolf Steiner; Politics and the Occult; Turn Off Your Mind; and A Secret History of Consciousness-have been published to acclaim in both America and Europe. In his musical career, Lachman has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a founding member of the pioneering rock band Blondie. Lachman was born in New Jersey and currently lives in London.
Transcription of Cecilia's introduction:
"When the name of Carl Jung comes up, so do images. Images of mandalas, of shadow sides of our personalities, the famous scarab beetle that was dreamed
about by one of Jung's patients. It mysteriously became real one afternoon in one of their sessions--appearing outside the window--and resulted in a huge psychological transformation for the client. Dreamwork is one of the bases of Jungian psychology, and the unconscious, collective or otherwise, is a term we associate with Jung. He's even touted on shows about UFOs, since Jung wrote about them in one of his last books, called "Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky." By quoting Jung, these shows aim to lend an air of scientific credibility to their claims of aliens coming to earth. The irony of this is that Jung himself struggled for his whole life with both experiencing mystical events and wanting to be taken seriously by the scientific community of which he was a part. He often hedged on his beliefs about mystical or paranormal phenomena, and at the same time explored them--or even lived them. Whether his interest in astrology, his belief that there were two of him (one a young person, one an older, individuated self--or perhaps a personality from a previous life), or that fascination with flying saucers, Jung's actual behavior and interests wrangled with the desire to be seen as scientifically rigorous.
Today, I'll speak with Gary Lachman about his fascinating foray into mystical side of the life and work of Carl Jung."
Purchase this text here.
Sunday, June 27, 2010: THOMAS MOORE, author of "Care of the Soul in Medicine: Healing Guidance for Patients, Families, and the People Who Care for Them."
From Thomas Moore--psychotherapist, theologian, former Catholic monk and author of several books, including the hugely influential Care of the Soul--comes a new book about the ways in which care of the soul can, and does, contribute to the care of the body.
"Few experiences stir the emotions and throw a person into crisis as illness does. If affects not only the body but also the spirit and soul. Illness is about life and death, fear and hope, love and conflict, spirit and body. And yet, the healthcare system is not structured around these considerations—our doctors and other medical professionals are not trained to deal with the whole person.
Care of the Soul In Medicine is Moore’s manifesto about the future of healthcare. In this new vision of care, Moore speaks to the importance of healing a person rather than simply treating a body. He gives advice to both healthcare providers and patients for maintaining dignity and humanity. He provides spiritual guidance for dealing with feelings of mortality and threat, encouraging patients to not only take an active part in healing but also to view illness as a positive passage to new awareness. While we don’t fully understand the extent to which healing depends on attitude; it has been shown that healing needs to focus on more than the body.
The future of medicine is not only in new technical developments and research discoveries; it is also in appreciating the state of soul and spirit in illness."
~from the publisher (Hay House)
Visit the Tikkun Daily Blog to read an essay on Christmas (2003) by Thomas Moore.
Click here to explore Thomas Moore's website--browse other titles and writings, read a brief biography, and find out about upcoming events.
Sunday, June 20, 2010: ANN BRASHARES, author of "My Name is Memory."
From the author of the acclaimed teen novel, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," comes a time-traveling love story. Ann Brashares' second novel for
adults will enrapture anyone who loved The Time Traveler's Wife, and all who can appreciate an expansive romance that dabbles in science fiction while offering poignant insights into human nature.
"A romance that stretches across centuries and past lives constitutes the core of Brashares's varied second adult novel, the first in a planned trilogy. The story is primarily that of Daniel, as, in the present, he pursues Lucy (whom he knows as Sophia in a previous life) and attempts to persuade her of their history and destiny, but his passion initially and understandably scares her off. He disappears, presumed dead, but Lucy, unable to forget him, investigates his claims of their history until she discovers the truth. Meanwhile, Daniel takes readers on a tour of romantic near-misses, from sixth-century Africa through eighth-century Turkey to WWI."
~Publishers Weekly
To learn more about Ann Brashares, her other books, or to keep up with her blog, visit her website: www.annbrashares.com.
Sunday, June 13, 2010: LISA JONES, author of "Broken: A Love Story."
This week, join Cecilia for a fascinating journey into the wilds of Wyoming as she discusses Broken: A Love Story, with author and freelance journalist, Lisa Jones.
"Stanford made me laugh a lot, which was a nice break from the confusion that often enveloped me during the four years I was a frequent visitor there. I wasn’t trying to
write an authoritative book about Native Americans or native life. I was there to write a book about Stanford’s evolution from what he had been, a bad-boy outlaw, into the renowned medicine man he had become. But I didn’t get the information I needed in the quick question-and-answer sessions that had been the staple of my work as a journalist. I learned to wait and watch. And a lot of what I ended up watching was what was going on inside of me."
from Broken: A Love Story
Visit Lisa Jones' website to see a biography, read excerpts from the book, or even watch a video and browse photos that will transport you into the story she recounts.
Sunday, May 30, 2010: IRIS GOMEZ, author of "Try to Remember."
Though immigration has been an important social and political question for many years--since the inception of the country, some would argue--the recent bill that passed in Arizona has garnered the subject even more attention. But it
is an understatement to say merely that the topic is getting more attention. The question of what to do about the enormous flow of undocumented workers into the United States taps into powerful emotions on both sides of the issue.
In Try to Remember, Iris Gomez presents her readers with a very personal perspective on the experience of immigration. A poet and an immigration lawyer, and herself an immigrant from Colombia, Gomez tells the story of a family of Colombian immigrants adjusting to life in the United States in the 1970s. As we read about one family's experience, we are given a way to try and understand the complexities of the immigrant experience in general. But Try to Remember is also about the conflicts and comforts of being a part of a family, and about how we develop and come to awareness of ourselves as individuals.
"What holds the reader is the drama of each intense home scenario, scary and tender... The clash between traditional immigrant values and feminist independence is powerful... In her debut novel, Colombian immigrant poet Gomez dramatizes the universal dilemma of a loving family serving as 'both joy and prison.'" (Booklist )
Read some of Iris Gomez's poetry, and a brief biography, here.
Sunday, May 23, 2010: HEATHER LENDE, author of "Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska."
If there can be anything like an expert on a state so expansive and varied as Alaska, Heather Lende just might be a front-runner for the title. Born and raised in Haines, AK, she is a regular contributor to the Alaska Dispatch,
an "award-winning web-paper on all things Alaska," a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, and has also contributed to the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, NPR's Morning Edition, the New York Times, and Alaska Magazine. And to top it all off, Lende has written two books of memoir-essays (If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska, 2006, and Take Good Care of the Garden, 2010) that revolve around her experiences and observations of life in her tiny southeastern Alaskan town.
Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska is Lende's most recent title, and is a continuation of the humorous, thoughtful, and poignant tales she spun in her first book. However, she takes a lay-theological turn in Take Good Care of the Dogs, exploring questions such as why the meaning of life is such a popular conversation among Alaskans, what it means to be faced with your own mortality, and how it is that faith figures into our lives.
"The Alaskan landscape — so vast, dramatic, and unbelievable — may make it easier to believe that something or someone greater is in charge. Haines resident Heather Lende wonders whether that’s why people in her town (population 2,400) so often discuss the meaning of life. She thinks it helps make life mean more.
Lende, who writes the local obituary column and has been called "part Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott" by the Los Angeles Times, revealed in her first book a deep awareness of what links all humanity. Since then, she was run over by a truck in an almost fatal accident and has had a few more reasons to consider matters both spiritual and earthly. In Where God Resides we meet the community that helped her get back on her feet: the eccentric, fiercely independent, always fascinating residents of Haines—Buddhists, bear hunters, Tinglit Indians, and her large, lively family. We follow Lende as she attends her small Episcopal church, cares for her mother, wonders how to forgive the driver who hit her and how not to faint with joy as she finally walks down to the beach for her daughter’s wedding. By the time we reach a certain age, most of us have been hit by trucks, in one way or another, and Lende shows us that our responses to those setbacks have everything to do with faith."
Sunday, May 16, 2010: SUSAN MOON, author of "This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity."
To learn more about Susan Moon, visit her web page at www.susanmoon.wordpress.com.
Sunday, May 2, 2010: Rabbi Arthur Green, author of "Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition."
Green is professor and rector of the Rabbincal School of Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusettes. In this book, he brings both scholarly and personal knowledge to bear on questions about human origins, God, the meaning of existence, and human nature, among other perennial theological subjects. Drawing on Jewish mystical traditions, Green argues that a neomystical approach to controversial topics such as evolution and the human authorship of religious texts can help us understand these, too, as "dwellings of the sacred," rather than as threats to a life of faith.
Available for purchase through Amazon or Yale University Press.
Sunday, April 25, 2010: Hugh Ambrose, author of "THE PACIFIC."
Now a ten-part miniseries on HBO, "THE PACIFIC" traces the history of the Pacific War between the United States and Japan. From the opening shots to the final days and hours, Hugh Ambrose's carefully researched text will captivate readers with its intensity, its thoughtfulness, and its ability to communicate the painful realities of war.
"[THE PACIFIC] blends eyewitness accounts into a larger perspective on the course of the war. However, this larger perspective is not solely provided by the historian, but also by the veterans. Put another way, instead of layering some
oral histories onto a historical framework, I follow the lives of five veterans who, between them, experienced most of the key moments of the war. By walking with these men through their respective wars, the reader comes to see The Pacific as a whole...Each of the millions of men under arms in WWII experienced his own unique war. Each man within a company or a squadron comprehended his reality differently than his comrades. Can five men, with their own set of idiosyncratic experiences, represent this vast and complex war sufficiently to warrant the book’s all-encompassing title? I think so. By choosing these particular five men, I have written a history that simultaneously describes the individual experience and illuminates the general truths of that vast ocean of enmity we call The Pacific."
~Hugh Ambrose
Sunday, April 18, 2010: Aife Murray, author of "Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language."
In Maid as Muse, Aífe (ee-fah) Murray explodes the myth of the isolated genius and presents an intimate, densely realized story of joined lives between Emily Dickinson and her domestic servants. Part scholarly study, part detective story, part personal journey, Murray's book uncovers a world previously unknown: an influential world of Irish immigrant servants and an ethnically rich one of
Yankee, English-immigrant, Native American, and African American maids and laborers, seamstresses and stablemen.
Murray reveals how Margaret Maher and the other servants influenced the cultural outlook, fashion, artistic subject, and even poetic style of Emily Dickinson. Irish immigrant Maher becomes the lens to a larger story about artistic reciprocities and culture-making that has meaning way beyond Dickinson. This below-stairs, bottom-up portrait of the artist and her family not only injects themes of class and ethnic difference into the story but also imparts subtle details and intimacies that make the study of Emily Dickinson urgent once again.
In the kitchen pantry where she spent a good portion of each day, the outside world came to Dickinson. The "invisible" kitchen was headquarters for people mostly lost from the public record-and it was her interactions with them that changed and helped define who Emily Dickinson was as a person and a poet.
See the Harper Collins website for a full biography and information on Dr. Meyers' other books, or to purchase this title.
Sunday, July 25, 2010: PETER HELLER, author of "KOOK: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave."
Whether in poetry or in prose, Peter Heller writes about adventures. He is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine, National Geographic, and Men’s Journal, and is a regular contributor on National Public Radio. He is also the author of two other books: The Whale Warriors: Hell or
High Water and Set Free in China. Heller has had a lot of fun traveling around the world, doing wild and crazy things. He has also had many girlfriends, some of whom he really loved--but he just couldn’t break away from his adventurous life long enough to settle down with anyone. For his most recent adventure, Heller decided to try and go from where he was, a novice surfer--called a KOOK--to a surfer capable of mastering a big hollow wave: in six months.
The term KOOK isn’t benign. It describes someone who is clueless – not just about surfing, but about all the social norms related to the
sport: talking about unimportant things while waiting for a wave, acting like a fool when and if he manages to stand up on his board. This time, rather than leaving his girlfriend Kim behind, Heller took her along, hoping it would strengthen their relationship. In some real ways, making the commitment to become a good surfer called out in Heller the same qualities that he would need to make a good partner in life. His openness to the new skill of surfing, and his willingness to look stupid and make mistakes--all the while not knowing what would come next--are all essential components in a strong, loving relationship. Heller makes a good story of both in his new book, and takes us all along for the ride.Join me this Sunday as I talk with Peter Heller about love, life--and catching the perfect wave.
-Cecilia
Visit Peter Heller's website at www.peterheller.net.
Visit Google Books to read an excerpt from KOOK.
Sunday, July 18, 2010: JULIE GENOVESE, author of "Nothing Short of Joy."
Born a dwarf with degenerative arthritis, Julie Genovese's path included many visits to the Center for Birth Defects as a child where she was displayed on a
table and studied by genetic specialists who rarely had the opportunity to see a case of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia. With a childhood rife with humiliation and heartache, Julie was terrified she would never find happiness. Lifelong physical limitations, as well as bi-lateral hip and knee replacements, left deep emotional scars. Through two brain surgeries, lots of trial, lots of error, and endless soul searching, Julie took charge of her own Eden and would stop at nothing short of joy."Julie Genovese is an inspiration and a teacher for those who want to heal what can't be cured. So pain, hate and fear lead us to faith, hope and love."
- Bernie Siegel, M.D. (author of Peace, Love and Healing)
Visit Julie's website, at www.nothingshortofjoy.com.
Sunday, July 11, 2010: LINDA GREENLAW, author of "Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain's Return to the Sea."
Linda Greenlaw isn't your average fisherman.
Though she lives in Isle au Haut, Maine, Greenlaw has spent much of her life
navigating the unpredicatable wilderness of the ocean. She is the only female swordfishing captain in the United States, and one of only a very few female fishermen. Greenlaw has a degree in English, and started working on swordfish boats as a way to earn money to put herself through college. Greenlaw caught national attention when she appeared in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm; Junger called her, "one of the best captains...on the entire East coast." Tune in this Sunday to hear about her most recent book, in which she tells of her return to the open sea after a decade of being a lobsterman in Maine.
Also, visit Linda Greenlaw's website, here.
Sunday, July 4, 2010: GARY LACHMAN, author of "Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung's Life and Teachings."
Gary Lachman is one of today's most widely read and respected writers on esoteric and occult themes. His writing has been published in several national journals on philosophy, esotericism, and modern culture, and his books-including Rudolf Steiner; Politics and the Occult; Turn Off Your Mind; and A Secret History of Consciousness-have been published to acclaim in both America and Europe. In his musical career, Lachman has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a founding member of the pioneering rock band Blondie. Lachman was born in New Jersey and currently lives in London.
Transcription of Cecilia's introduction:
"When the name of Carl Jung comes up, so do images. Images of mandalas, of shadow sides of our personalities, the famous scarab beetle that was dreamed
about by one of Jung's patients. It mysteriously became real one afternoon in one of their sessions--appearing outside the window--and resulted in a huge psychological transformation for the client. Dreamwork is one of the bases of Jungian psychology, and the unconscious, collective or otherwise, is a term we associate with Jung. He's even touted on shows about UFOs, since Jung wrote about them in one of his last books, called "Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky." By quoting Jung, these shows aim to lend an air of scientific credibility to their claims of aliens coming to earth. The irony of this is that Jung himself struggled for his whole life with both experiencing mystical events and wanting to be taken seriously by the scientific community of which he was a part. He often hedged on his beliefs about mystical or paranormal phenomena, and at the same time explored them--or even lived them. Whether his interest in astrology, his belief that there were two of him (one a young person, one an older, individuated self--or perhaps a personality from a previous life), or that fascination with flying saucers, Jung's actual behavior and interests wrangled with the desire to be seen as scientifically rigorous. Today, I'll speak with Gary Lachman about his fascinating foray into mystical side of the life and work of Carl Jung."
Purchase this text here.
Sunday, June 27, 2010: THOMAS MOORE, author of "Care of the Soul in Medicine: Healing Guidance for Patients, Families, and the People Who Care for Them."
From Thomas Moore--psychotherapist, theologian, former Catholic monk and author of several books, including the hugely influential Care of the Soul--comes a new book about the ways in which care of the soul can, and does, contribute to the care of the body."Few experiences stir the emotions and throw a person into crisis as illness does. If affects not only the body but also the spirit and soul. Illness is about life and death, fear and hope, love and conflict, spirit and body. And yet, the healthcare system is not structured around these considerations—our doctors and other medical professionals are not trained to deal with the whole person.
Care of the Soul In Medicine is Moore’s manifesto about the future of healthcare. In this new vision of care, Moore speaks to the importance of healing a person rather than simply treating a body. He gives advice to both healthcare providers and patients for maintaining dignity and humanity. He provides spiritual guidance for dealing with feelings of mortality and threat, encouraging patients to not only take an active part in healing but also to view illness as a positive passage to new awareness. While we don’t fully understand the extent to which healing depends on attitude; it has been shown that healing needs to focus on more than the body.
The future of medicine is not only in new technical developments and research discoveries; it is also in appreciating the state of soul and spirit in illness."
~from the publisher (Hay House)
Visit the Tikkun Daily Blog to read an essay on Christmas (2003) by Thomas Moore.
Click here to explore Thomas Moore's website--browse other titles and writings, read a brief biography, and find out about upcoming events.
Sunday, June 20, 2010: ANN BRASHARES, author of "My Name is Memory."
From the author of the acclaimed teen novel, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," comes a time-traveling love story. Ann Brashares' second novel for
adults will enrapture anyone who loved The Time Traveler's Wife, and all who can appreciate an expansive romance that dabbles in science fiction while offering poignant insights into human nature."A romance that stretches across centuries and past lives constitutes the core of Brashares's varied second adult novel, the first in a planned trilogy. The story is primarily that of Daniel, as, in the present, he pursues Lucy (whom he knows as Sophia in a previous life) and attempts to persuade her of their history and destiny, but his passion initially and understandably scares her off. He disappears, presumed dead, but Lucy, unable to forget him, investigates his claims of their history until she discovers the truth. Meanwhile, Daniel takes readers on a tour of romantic near-misses, from sixth-century Africa through eighth-century Turkey to WWI."
~Publishers Weekly
To learn more about Ann Brashares, her other books, or to keep up with her blog, visit her website: www.annbrashares.com.
Sunday, June 13, 2010: LISA JONES, author of "Broken: A Love Story."
This week, join Cecilia for a fascinating journey into the wilds of Wyoming as she discusses Broken: A Love Story, with author and freelance journalist, Lisa Jones.
"Stanford made me laugh a lot, which was a nice break from the confusion that often enveloped me during the four years I was a frequent visitor there. I wasn’t trying to
write an authoritative book about Native Americans or native life. I was there to write a book about Stanford’s evolution from what he had been, a bad-boy outlaw, into the renowned medicine man he had become. But I didn’t get the information I needed in the quick question-and-answer sessions that had been the staple of my work as a journalist. I learned to wait and watch. And a lot of what I ended up watching was what was going on inside of me."from Broken: A Love Story
Visit Lisa Jones' website to see a biography, read excerpts from the book, or even watch a video and browse photos that will transport you into the story she recounts.
Sunday, May 30, 2010: IRIS GOMEZ, author of "Try to Remember."
Though immigration has been an important social and political question for many years--since the inception of the country, some would argue--the recent bill that passed in Arizona has garnered the subject even more attention. But it
is an understatement to say merely that the topic is getting more attention. The question of what to do about the enormous flow of undocumented workers into the United States taps into powerful emotions on both sides of the issue. In Try to Remember, Iris Gomez presents her readers with a very personal perspective on the experience of immigration. A poet and an immigration lawyer, and herself an immigrant from Colombia, Gomez tells the story of a family of Colombian immigrants adjusting to life in the United States in the 1970s. As we read about one family's experience, we are given a way to try and understand the complexities of the immigrant experience in general. But Try to Remember is also about the conflicts and comforts of being a part of a family, and about how we develop and come to awareness of ourselves as individuals.
"What holds the reader is the drama of each intense home scenario, scary and tender... The clash between traditional immigrant values and feminist independence is powerful... In her debut novel, Colombian immigrant poet Gomez dramatizes the universal dilemma of a loving family serving as 'both joy and prison.'" (Booklist )
Read some of Iris Gomez's poetry, and a brief biography, here.
Sunday, May 23, 2010: HEATHER LENDE, author of "Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska."
If there can be anything like an expert on a state so expansive and varied as Alaska, Heather Lende just might be a front-runner for the title. Born and raised in Haines, AK, she is a regular contributor to the Alaska Dispatch,
an "award-winning web-paper on all things Alaska," a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, and has also contributed to the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, NPR's Morning Edition, the New York Times, and Alaska Magazine. And to top it all off, Lende has written two books of memoir-essays (If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska, 2006, and Take Good Care of the Garden, 2010) that revolve around her experiences and observations of life in her tiny southeastern Alaskan town. Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska is Lende's most recent title, and is a continuation of the humorous, thoughtful, and poignant tales she spun in her first book. However, she takes a lay-theological turn in Take Good Care of the Dogs, exploring questions such as why the meaning of life is such a popular conversation among Alaskans, what it means to be faced with your own mortality, and how it is that faith figures into our lives.
"The Alaskan landscape — so vast, dramatic, and unbelievable — may make it easier to believe that something or someone greater is in charge. Haines resident Heather Lende wonders whether that’s why people in her town (population 2,400) so often discuss the meaning of life. She thinks it helps make life mean more.
Lende, who writes the local obituary column and has been called "part Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott" by the Los Angeles Times, revealed in her first book a deep awareness of what links all humanity. Since then, she was run over by a truck in an almost fatal accident and has had a few more reasons to consider matters both spiritual and earthly. In Where God Resides we meet the community that helped her get back on her feet: the eccentric, fiercely independent, always fascinating residents of Haines—Buddhists, bear hunters, Tinglit Indians, and her large, lively family. We follow Lende as she attends her small Episcopal church, cares for her mother, wonders how to forgive the driver who hit her and how not to faint with joy as she finally walks down to the beach for her daughter’s wedding. By the time we reach a certain age, most of us have been hit by trucks, in one way or another, and Lende shows us that our responses to those setbacks have everything to do with faith."
Sunday, May 16, 2010: SUSAN MOON, author of "This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity."
As she moves into her sixties, Susan Moon--along with the rest of us!--finds her memory faltering, her body responding differently than once it did, her
perspective on people and experiences changing. Rather than respond with anxiety and fear--though she is not immune to regret--this long-time student of Zen explores the unavoidable fact of aging as an opportunity to deepen and expand her spiritual awareness. With a calm, thoughtful take on realizations that can often provoke stress and sadness, Moon sheds a gentle, humorous light on the process of getting older.
perspective on people and experiences changing. Rather than respond with anxiety and fear--though she is not immune to regret--this long-time student of Zen explores the unavoidable fact of aging as an opportunity to deepen and expand her spiritual awareness. With a calm, thoughtful take on realizations that can often provoke stress and sadness, Moon sheds a gentle, humorous light on the process of getting older. “Gentle essays...long on dignity. Moon uses detail vividly in her determination to make peace with the many failures of brain and body (from forgetting her Social Security number to wondering if she’ll ever have sex again). Her best writing occurs when memory, emotion, and spirit coalesce as she recovers parts of herself left behind in childhood or comes to terms with solitude.”
-Publishers Weekly
Click here to purchase this book.
-Publishers Weekly
Click here to purchase this book.
To learn more about Susan Moon, visit her web page at www.susanmoon.wordpress.com.
Sunday, May 2, 2010: Rabbi Arthur Green, author of "Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition."
In this week's interview, the third of our series on theological iconoclasts, Rabbi Arthur Green will talk with Cecilia about his latest book, Radical Judaism.
Green is professor and rector of the Rabbincal School of Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusettes. In this book, he brings both scholarly and personal knowledge to bear on questions about human origins, God, the meaning of existence, and human nature, among other perennial theological subjects. Drawing on Jewish mystical traditions, Green argues that a neomystical approach to controversial topics such as evolution and the human authorship of religious texts can help us understand these, too, as "dwellings of the sacred," rather than as threats to a life of faith."Green emerges as a decidedly non-traditionalist theologian through this illuminating and evocative discussion about such topics as classic metaphors for God, evolutionary theory, and Kabbalistic theories of creation. Radical Judaism is highly accessible, and the issues addressed are very much those of our contemporaries."
-Neil Gillman, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Available for purchase through Amazon or Yale University Press.
Sunday, April 25, 2010: Hugh Ambrose, author of "THE PACIFIC."
Now a ten-part miniseries on HBO, "THE PACIFIC" traces the history of the Pacific War between the United States and Japan. From the opening shots to the final days and hours, Hugh Ambrose's carefully researched text will captivate readers with its intensity, its thoughtfulness, and its ability to communicate the painful realities of war.
"[THE PACIFIC] blends eyewitness accounts into a larger perspective on the course of the war. However, this larger perspective is not solely provided by the historian, but also by the veterans. Put another way, instead of layering some
oral histories onto a historical framework, I follow the lives of five veterans who, between them, experienced most of the key moments of the war. By walking with these men through their respective wars, the reader comes to see The Pacific as a whole...Each of the millions of men under arms in WWII experienced his own unique war. Each man within a company or a squadron comprehended his reality differently than his comrades. Can five men, with their own set of idiosyncratic experiences, represent this vast and complex war sufficiently to warrant the book’s all-encompassing title? I think so. By choosing these particular five men, I have written a history that simultaneously describes the individual experience and illuminates the general truths of that vast ocean of enmity we call The Pacific."~Hugh Ambrose
Sunday, April 18, 2010: Aife Murray, author of "Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language."
In Maid as Muse, Aífe (ee-fah) Murray explodes the myth of the isolated genius and presents an intimate, densely realized story of joined lives between Emily Dickinson and her domestic servants. Part scholarly study, part detective story, part personal journey, Murray's book uncovers a world previously unknown: an influential world of Irish immigrant servants and an ethnically rich one of
Yankee, English-immigrant, Native American, and African American maids and laborers, seamstresses and stablemen.
In the kitchen pantry where she spent a good portion of each day, the outside world came to Dickinson. The "invisible" kitchen was headquarters for people mostly lost from the public record-and it was her interactions with them that changed and helped define who Emily Dickinson was as a person and a poet.
"Imaginative, informative, and consistently lively. A deeply felt response to Dickinson's domestic context that amplifies our understanding of nineteenth-century-American literary and social history." ~Vivian Pollak
For more information on Aife Murray, or to purchase this book, visit www.maidasmuse.com.
Sunday, April 11, 2010: Stephen Asma, Ph.D., author of "Why I Am a Buddhist: No-Nonsense Buddhism with Red Meat and Whiskey."
This week's interview is the second installment of a three-part series on iconoclastic religious writers: Robin Meyers on Christianity (April 4), Stephen Asma on Buddhism (April 11), and Arthur Green on Judaism (May 2).
"I'm not a monk or even a member of a temple. I have studied Buddhism with some amazing scholars and practitioners and I've taught Buddhism for many years in the States and Asia--but I think gurus are screwballs. I probably drink too much, and I'm not in the least bit interested in sexual abstinence. I like the White Sox and I eat meat. If a guy like me can be a Buddhist...trust me, there's room for you."
~from Why I Am a Buddhist
Stephen Asma is professor of philosophy, Eastern philosophy (esp. Buddhism), and philosophy of religion at Columbia College in Chicago. Though raised as
a "cultural Christian," he has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism since early adulthood; beginning, as most Westerners do, with books on dharma and Eastern religions, he eventually went on to travel to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China. In these countries--where Buddhism, rather than Christianity, is one of the predominant relgious practices--Asma was able to experience the cultural, rather than the academic, side of Buddhism: what Buddhism means to those who have grown up steeped in its rituals, teachings, and stories.
For Asma, the "California"-style Buddhism that served as the intial portal into Eastern philosophy for most United States citizens is a light-weight and New-Agey take on this most ancient of traditions. He argues that images of highly somber and restrictive practices--diets of brown rice, hours of daily meditation, avoidance of earthly sensuality--do not in fact represent the ideals of Buddhism, and that what he calls "red meat and whiskey" Buddhists are just as true, if not truer, to the teachings of the Buddha himself than these ascetic practitioners.
Join us this Sunday as Cecilia speaks with Stephen Asma about what he means by "red meat and whiskey" Buddhists, why he believes that "California"-style Buddhism does not represent the original Buddhism, and why Buddhism as a practice is both relevant and necessary for contemporary Westerners.
Visit Stephen Asma's website for information on his other publications (including a jazz album!), his scholarly background, or to purchase this book.
Sunday, April 4, 2010: Robin Meyers, author of, "Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus."
“Scholarly, pastoral, prophetic, and eloquent. The invitation to follow Jesus instead of worshiping Christ could not come at a more important time, or be issued by a more credible source.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Dr. Robin Meyers is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), a tenured professor in the philosophy department at Oklahoma City University, an author, a syndicated columnist, and an award-winning commentator for National Public Radio. He has been the Senior Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC church of Oklahoma City, the fastest-growing UCC church in the Kansas-Oklahoma conference, since 1985.
For more information on Aife Murray, or to purchase this book, visit www.maidasmuse.com.
Sunday, April 11, 2010: Stephen Asma, Ph.D., author of "Why I Am a Buddhist: No-Nonsense Buddhism with Red Meat and Whiskey."
This week's interview is the second installment of a three-part series on iconoclastic religious writers: Robin Meyers on Christianity (April 4), Stephen Asma on Buddhism (April 11), and Arthur Green on Judaism (May 2).
"I'm not a monk or even a member of a temple. I have studied Buddhism with some amazing scholars and practitioners and I've taught Buddhism for many years in the States and Asia--but I think gurus are screwballs. I probably drink too much, and I'm not in the least bit interested in sexual abstinence. I like the White Sox and I eat meat. If a guy like me can be a Buddhist...trust me, there's room for you."
~from Why I Am a Buddhist
Stephen Asma is professor of philosophy, Eastern philosophy (esp. Buddhism), and philosophy of religion at Columbia College in Chicago. Though raised as
a "cultural Christian," he has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism since early adulthood; beginning, as most Westerners do, with books on dharma and Eastern religions, he eventually went on to travel to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China. In these countries--where Buddhism, rather than Christianity, is one of the predominant relgious practices--Asma was able to experience the cultural, rather than the academic, side of Buddhism: what Buddhism means to those who have grown up steeped in its rituals, teachings, and stories. For Asma, the "California"-style Buddhism that served as the intial portal into Eastern philosophy for most United States citizens is a light-weight and New-Agey take on this most ancient of traditions. He argues that images of highly somber and restrictive practices--diets of brown rice, hours of daily meditation, avoidance of earthly sensuality--do not in fact represent the ideals of Buddhism, and that what he calls "red meat and whiskey" Buddhists are just as true, if not truer, to the teachings of the Buddha himself than these ascetic practitioners.
Join us this Sunday as Cecilia speaks with Stephen Asma about what he means by "red meat and whiskey" Buddhists, why he believes that "California"-style Buddhism does not represent the original Buddhism, and why Buddhism as a practice is both relevant and necessary for contemporary Westerners.
Visit Stephen Asma's website for information on his other publications (including a jazz album!), his scholarly background, or to purchase this book.
Sunday, April 4, 2010: Robin Meyers, author of, "Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus."
“Scholarly, pastoral, prophetic, and eloquent. The invitation to follow Jesus instead of worshiping Christ could not come at a more important time, or be issued by a more credible source.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Dr. Robin Meyers is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), a tenured professor in the philosophy department at Oklahoma City University, an author, a syndicated columnist, and an award-winning commentator for National Public Radio. He has been the Senior Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC church of Oklahoma City, the fastest-growing UCC church in the Kansas-Oklahoma conference, since 1985.
In this, his most recent book, Dr. Meyers takes the best of biblical scholarship and recasts these core Christian concepts to exhort the church to pursue an alternative vision of the Christian life:
- Jesus as Teacher, not Savior
- Christianity as Compassion, not Condemnation
- Prosperity as Dangerous, not Divine
- Discipleship as Obedience, not Control
- Religion as Relationship, not Righteousness
This is not a call to the church to move to the far left or to try something brand new. Rather, it is the recovery of something very old. Saving Jesus from the Church shows us what it means to be a Christian and how to follow Jesus' teachings today.
Many of our listeners may be familiar with Robin Meyers' work; for others, this may be the first exposure. What are your opinions on the perspective Meyers takes on Christianity? Please visit the Open Mind blog to share your thoughts, reactions, and/or criticisms with us.
See the Harper Collins website for a full biography and information on Dr. Meyers' other books, or to purchase this title.
