Home again, home again

I’m back in Chicago after 8 days with family and friends in Pittsburgh. Despite my sister’s bout with the flu, it was a lovely time to reconnect with loved ones. The week culminated in a family weekend together in some cabins in my hometown of Wheeling, WV. 

But before the cabin adventure, I had an exciting week of remote work for the Century. I recorded several new video chats with writers for the magazine. This week’s featured conversation appears at the bottom of the corresponding article: a book excerpt exploring how James Baldwin is a spiritual memoirist and, more than that, an exorcist. Also I’m excited to share that my first feature for the Century was published! Based on a wonderful chat I had with a subscriber, Marilyn Zimmann, the piece explores how Marilyn and her friend Jean navigated the loss of their pastor husbands—and the ministry belongings they left behind.

This week we also have a review of James K. A. Smith’s book about time, an analysis of the US’s role in the crisis in Yemen, and more below.

Email me: Does your family have reunions? What are they like?

Baldwin the exorcist

“James Baldwin is not a guide, he is a force. Exorcism is a historic function of the church and not without its spiritual uses. In the cauldron of 20th-century literature, Baldwin is the exorcist without peer.”

The sacred relics of a lifetime of ministry

“What was Marilyn supposed to do with these sacred cabinets? Inside were the treasures of a minister’s life: wedding and funeral liturgies, prayers, calls to worship, sermons organized by the liturgical calendar.”

“When are we?” asks James K. A. Smith

“To discuss concepts of time and encourage an embrace of our ephemerality in our current moment of mass shootings, systemic oppression, and a global pandemic is daring.”

review by Amar D. Peterman

In the Lectionary for November 13 (Ordinary 33C)

Given time, things can grow back.

by Kat Banakis
 

Yemen’s children and America’s oil

“One factor may be doing more than any other to drive the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Yemen: America’s addiction to oil.”

by Keri Ladner

Women after incarceration

“This lack of support during incarceration is devastating for women. And it is mirrored after release: reentry programs are designed for men and do not adequately address women’s unique needs.”

A word from a subscriber . . .

“I have always appreciated the Christian Century and eagerly look forward to reading each issue—which usually begins as soon as I pull it out of the mailbox!”