Thoughts While Sheltering

As I put away my Easter lawn flag and browsed through my replacement stack, I was excited to locate my bright pink "Stay Calm and Fight On" breast cancer encouragement flag.  With our sheltering confusion, emotional ups and downs and irritability, this flag seemed perfect for a "time such as this".  I wanted to convey a message of hope and motivation to my neighbors.  It flew strong for  10 days...but a loose string caught on my flag stand.  The winds of April added to the unraveling and soon, the flag simply deteriorated into flapping strings that wound tightly around the black stand.

It was depressing.  A flag of hope diminished to nothing.  It seemed so much like the Covid 19 situation that we are currently in.  There were waves of hope and Good News stories at first.  People were hunkered down, ready to beat this and stay put amidst the onslaught; but the strong winds of challenge, disagreement, anger, and resentment blew.  All of the good intentions turned to complaints and impatience.  Our hope unfurled just like my flag...many did not want to "stay calm and fight on". 

Though my flag is on the junk heap, my inward heart is still beating with hope that as we stay the course, God will walk with us and bring stamina and strength for the battle.  He has done it many times before.  He will do it again...He has a great track record.

A new flag will be found.  A new wave of inspiration will begin.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This Sizzlers Club read, endorsed by Oprah's Book Club, was engaging from the start.  Hiram Walker, son of water dancer slave Rose and plantation master, Howell...weaves his story of pain, with great vulnerability. 

Although there were phrases and ideas that sometimes eluded me, it did not deter from the story, and by the end most of those confusions resolved themselves.  One thing that really hit me was my misunderstanding of the Abolitionist / Underground movement.  I pictured courageous people, usually Quakers and Mennonites, doing their parts to host runaways along their way North.  What I never pictured was the long range planning & networking of the "Quality"to obtain plantations that were going under;  and the fact that there was an underside of the murder of some in order to produce the freedom of many.  It made me face once again, that no movement is entirely pure...that we are all a mix of goodness and evil, that as we face a greater call--hard decisions will be made.  It happens in politics, in churches, in businesses, in families, in activist organizations.  And, as much as I detest the Plantation owners and all of their duplicity in the name of God; I also can acknowledge the anguish that Howell Walker felt in his old age...the warring of his soul.

Of course, the other bigger story in his tale is Conducting.  What a perfect word for the gift Hi was given.  This reminded me of A Wrinkle in Time, where love was the key element in travel. In Coates' story, memory is the key.  I loved that the Water Dance and Conducting came from the African slaves because it gives a richness to his heritage, just as when we discover a gift that we realize has come from our ancestors.  An unforgettable read.

Unwanted by Mary E. Sandford

Mary Sandford's first book is a winner.  Published as juvenile fiction, she definitely hits her targeted audience.  Debbie's story is redemptive and full of hope for those kids lost in foster care, feeling friendless and lonely; but it also has a message for the rest of us. In the midst of the uncertainties of life, there are supporting people along the way who play an important role in our healing...and there is God, always orchestrating events and transforming our brokenness into wholeness.

Sandford weaves this story in an engaging way, using historical events to bring the characters to life; as well as giving us a surprise ending.  I also loved her chapter titles (Unhappy, Unjust, Unbearable, Unsure, Unexpected, etc) which corollated to and expanded the "Unwanted" title, until the final chapter, Wanted. And isn't that what we all long for?

***This author is a friend of mine from our long ago days in Downers Grove.  We got re-acquainted on our recent Texas trip, and I found a kindred spirit in our love of words. It was a joy to read her first novel.