The Hope Library - What We Read in Troubled Times

A compilation from our recent community writing event

Dear Friends,

I greet you on a sunny Friday under a blue spring sky. This weather makes it easy to be hopeful. So, too, do friendships among writers who encourage each other.

That’s what we’ve been doing here at the Hallelujah Book & Hope Letter for the past couple of weeks. Last month I asked folks to name a book, text, or story that at some point had given them hope. Two dozen people responded with moving essays and short notes, linked below. Then we read each other and replied with five words (more or less).

The Hope Library is the result. * It consists of books, stories, and speeches that give us hope, ranging from the Acts of the Apostles to the Gettysburg Address to a current Booker Prize nominee. * It also consists of the linked essays written on behalf of those books. * Finally, the library consists of tiny notes — the five-word responses with which readers said to writers, “I see what matters to you. I care about this, too.”

I have gathered the linked essays below under themes of my own, such as Community, Life Stages, or Death and Loss. Authors and readers will undoubtedly see other connections than the ones I chose.

I encourage you to save this page to browse at your leisure. Reading in email may truncate the post and will not activate all the links. For the full post and access to all links you might want to follow, click the title of the post. This will open the post in a browser, where you can:

• Click an author name to see her/his/their profile;

• Click the name of a book or text to see the nominating essay about it;

• Read the 5-word responses to the nominating essay as a standalone poem; or

• Use the 5-word responses to help you decide which nominating essays to read.

Feel free to continue the conversation about books that inspire hope in the comments at the end of this post!

The Hope Library

On Community

Rona Maynard reads Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address.”

• Saving a republic demands everything Priscilla Stuckey

• Bind up the nation’s wounds Peter C. Meilaender

• Miracle of brevity, heart, clarity & A shaker chair of words Julie Gabrielli

• Passionate dedication freedom challenge hope Ann Gauger

• Hand on shoulder of bereaved or Embodying the voice of America Jill Swenson

• Roll, youth, on the grass Tara Penry

• Resonant location unlocks deeper meaning In pursuit of the past

• Lincoln on the penny disappearing <Mary L. Tabor>

Jill Swenson reads James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw’s The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings.

• Generations connect, passing down blessings Peter C. Meilaender

• New language changes your world Sal Randolph

• Love is a verb too ❤️ Tina B

• What if community trumped individualism? Rona Maynard

• Family, link, discover, learn! <Mary L. Tabor>

• Grief, Healing, Interconnectedness, Perspective, Wisdom The Reflective Current

• Hello relatives - all the languages Tara Penry

• Great exploration of how language shapes us j.e. moyer, LPC

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On Death, Grief, Loss

Rebecca Barry reads Hafiz’s The Gift.

• Everything dies and nothing does Jill Swenson

• Letters bringing connection across time Amy Hoppock

• Death: no boundary. Atoms hum. Tara Penry

• Life never ends, only transcends Elizabeth Beggins

• Poetry: a lifeline across time Peter C. Meilaender

• Hafiz is a magical portal and Loved “starlight landing on crystal” Julie Gabrielli

Tina B reads James Norbury, The Journey.

• From loss much wisdom blooms Elizabeth Beggins

• Little glimpses of light everywhere In pursuit of the past

• Hope is in dark places Julie Gabrielli

• So many losses — Panda, help! Tara Penry

• Everyone needs Big Panda wisdom Jill Swenson

Peter C. Meilaender reads Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.”

• When our final moments arrive Jill Swenson

• Connect, motherhood, comfort, heart, breaks <Mary L. Tabor>

• Non nobis domine, non nobis Tara Penry

Francis Phillips reads an epitaph by Elizabeth Peirce, c. 1791

Note: Scroll down to the comments of Zina’s video post. Francis’s remembered poem is there.

• Facing death alike, fearless, composed Tara Penry

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Ecosystems

Priscilla Stuckey reads Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Time.

• Charlotte’s literary children spin hope Rona Maynard

• A world beyond human supremacy! The Reflective Current

• Spiders weave strange beautiful worlds Sal Randolph

• Itsy bitsy metamorphosis in spirit Jill Swenson

• Empathic, spider, butterfly effect, relentless <Mary L. Tabor>

• Spider world better than ours?? Tara Penry

Tracie Sweeney reads Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry.

• Gift economy; good and plenty Jill Swenson

• Short books offer abundant insight Amy Hoppock

• Books read better with cats Tara Penry

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Misery and splendor, creativity and constraint

<Mary L. Tabor> reads Robert Hass, Human Wishes.

• Words connect, begetting souls’ healing Peter C. Meilaender

• Unitive urge with urgency Jill Swenson

• Keening, mortal singularity, creation, wherewith Rona Maynard

The Reflective Current reads Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.

• Ethical leadership= wisdom+forgiveness Tina B

• Finding resilience after trauma possible Making Note of the Moments

• Hopeless vengeance? Moral leaders needed Tara Penry

• We inherit more than trauma Jill Swenson

Julie Gabrielli reads Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

• The divine and the earthly The Reflective Current

• Giving ourselves to the future Priscilla Stuckey

• Each little spark still shines In pursuit of the past

• “The dream is the truth” Peter C. Meilaender

• Earthy; sublime; joyously, effortlessly inventive Rona Maynard

• Art speaks to the soul j.e. moyer, LPC

Sal Randolph reads Solvej Balle, On the Calculation of Volume, Books I and II (Volume I was just longlisted for the Booker Prize).

• Self-published writer smashes time - hello? Tara Penry

• Turn, change, quotidian, seasons, live! <Mary L. Tabor>

• Over and over and over or Whoops! Here we go again Peter C. Meilaender

• Seasons often are emotionally significant The Reflective Current

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Harsh histories, Glimmers of hope

In pursuit of the past (Nikki) reads Nathan Stolzfus, Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany.

• Reach out to others often Julie Gabrielli

• A rare victory for love In pursuit of the past

• Isolation enables genocide; Protests weaken oppressors Tara Penry

• Love can change world history Tara Penry

Robin Taylor (he/him) reads Alana S Portero, Bad Habit.

• Identity, true-self, prejudices, inner-knowing, journey Donna McArthur

• Beauty, heartbreak growing up trans Jen B. Wang

• Village memoir: transcestors through time Tara Penry

• Beauty resides on many levels Julie Gabrielli

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Life stages: Crises of childhood, young adulthood, aging

j.e. moyer, LPC reads William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

• Children’s abandonment looks like evil Rona Maynard

• Lord of the Files modern remix Jill Swenson

• Adverse childhood experiences need compassion Tina B

• Moral scaffolding upholds ethical integrity The Reflective Current

• Brilliant - compassionate - I must reread Tara Penry

Good Humor by CK Steefel reads Judy Blume, Deenie.

• Judy helped girls stand tall Tara Penry

• Self-acceptance, advocacy, resilience, strength, uniqueness Donna McArthur

• Deenie’s the mirror I needed Julie Gabrielli

• Hope in a curved reflection Good Humor by CK Steefel

Do I Like Free Will? (S.) reads George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind

• Teen books helped us survive Tara Penry

• Happy with books at school Tara Penry

Priya Iyer reads Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

• Journey into the book temple Jill Swenson

• Library girl climbs mythic mountain Tara Penry

• Words point to profound wisdom Julie Gabrielli

Related note: David Poznansky reads A Fire in the Mind, biography of Joseph Campbell.

Ann Gauger reads M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled.

• Books come when we need (them) Amy Hoppock

• Spiritual yearning hungers for meaning Jill Swenson

• Yearning heart, companion book, song Tara Penry

Tracie Sweeney reads Ben Montgomery, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk.

• Living, seeking through others’ journeys Good Humor by CK Steefel

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Words to live by

Donna McArthur reads Tosha Silver, Outrageous Opening.

• Trust patience, kindness, and love Julie Gabrielli

• I can soften my grip Amy Hoppock

• All gods lead to love Jill Swenson

• Love force. Soften into hope Tara Penry

Do I Like Free Will? (S.) reads the Acts of the Apostles.

• Beware wolves calling themselves Christians Tara Penry

Jen B. Wang listens to a meditation by Tara Brach, “Calling on your future self.”

• Future self blesses the miracle Tara Penry

Tracie Sweeney listens to Stan Roger, “The Mary Ellen Carter.”

• Repeat: No matter, rise again. Jen B. Wang

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When all else fails

Amy Hoppock watches BBC’s Call the Midwife.

• Reader reborn, tended by midwives and Cancer diverts a reading life Tara Penry

• Midwifery guide to good living Jill Swenson

• Persevere, resilient, smart, community, caring Donna McArthur

Zina Gomez-Liss recites William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29 (When in disgrace).

• Haply I think on thee Julie Gabrielli & William Shakespeare

• Best poem for low times Tara Penry

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P.S.

Elizabeth Beggins often finds hopeful ways to look at our world at her newsletter, Chicken Scratch. Her latest post fit the spirit of this library well, though it wasn’t about a book. I’ll end by quoting it:

There are forces at work insisting that everything, everywhere is going to hell in a handbasket. Well, you know what? I’m not going!

In such good company as this, with dozens of people who participated in the Hope Library community writing project, my hope is renewed this week. Like Elizabeth, I’m not ready to get in the handbasket, either. I think I’ll grab a book…

With thanks to all,

Tara

P.S. If I missed anyone, please let me know so I can fix the omission in the web version of this post that newcomers will see.

P.P.S. I’d love it if you tapped the Heart button at the bottom or top of this post and use the Share button to copy the link for a friend or friends. These gestures help the algorithm find our little community garden of hope. Thank you!