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
Bind up the nation’s wounds
Miracle of brevity, heart, clarity & A shaker chair of words
Passionate dedication freedom challenge hope
Hand on shoulder of bereaved or Embodying the voice of America
Roll, youth, on the grass
Resonant location unlocks deeper meaning In pursuit of the past
Lincoln on the penny disappearing
Jill Swenson reads James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw’s The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings.
Generations connect, passing down blessings
New language changes your world
Love is a verb too ❤️
What if community trumped individualism?
Family, link, discover, learn!
Grief, Healing, Interconnectedness, Perspective, Wisdom
Hello relatives - all the languages
Great exploration of how language shapes us
On Death, Grief, Loss
reads Hafiz’s The Gift.
Everything dies and nothing does
Letters bringing connection across time
Death: no boundary. Atoms hum.
Life never ends, only transcends
Poetry: a lifeline across time
Hafiz is a magical portal and Loved “starlight landing on crystal”
Tina B reads James Norbury, The Journey.
From loss much wisdom blooms
Little glimpses of light everywhere In pursuit of the past
Hope is in dark places
So many losses — Panda, help!
Everyone needs Big Panda wisdom
Peter C. Meilaender reads Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.”
When our final moments arrive
Connect, motherhood, comfort, heart, breaks
Non nobis domine, non nobis
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
Ecosystems
Priscilla Stuckey reads Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Time.
Charlotte’s literary children spin hope
A world beyond human supremacy!
Spiders weave strange beautiful worlds
Itsy bitsy metamorphosis in spirit
Empathic, spider, butterfly effect, relentless
Spider world better than ours??
Tracie Sweeney reads Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry.
Gift economy; good and plenty
Short books offer abundant insight
Books read better with cats
Misery and splendor, creativity and constraint
<Mary L. Tabor> reads Robert Hass, Human Wishes.
Words connect, begetting souls’ healing
Unitive urge with urgency
Keening, mortal singularity, creation, wherewith
The Reflective Current reads Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.
Ethical leadership= wisdom+forgiveness
Finding resilience after trauma possible Making Note of the Moments
Hopeless vengeance? Moral leaders needed
We inherit more than trauma
Julie Gabrielli reads Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
The divine and the earthly
Giving ourselves to the future
Each little spark still shines In pursuit of the past
“The dream is the truth”
Earthy; sublime; joyously, effortlessly inventive
Art speaks to the soul
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?
Turn, change, quotidian, seasons, live!
Over and over and over or Whoops! Here we go again
Seasons often are emotionally significant
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
A rare victory for love In pursuit of the past
Isolation enables genocide; Protests weaken oppressors
Love can change world history
Robin Taylor (he/him) reads Alana S Portero, Bad Habit.
Identity, true-self, prejudices, inner-knowing, journey
Beauty, heartbreak growing up trans
Village memoir: transcestors through time
Beauty resides on many levels
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
Lord of the Files modern remix
Adverse childhood experiences need compassion
Moral scaffolding upholds ethical integrity
Brilliant - compassionate - I must reread
Good Humor by CK Steefel reads Judy Blume, Deenie.
Judy helped girls stand tall
Self-acceptance, advocacy, resilience, strength, uniqueness
Deenie’s the mirror I needed
Hope in a curved reflection
Do I Like Free Will? (S.) reads George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind
Teen books helped us survive
Happy with books at school
Priya Iyer reads Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Journey into the book temple
Library girl climbs mythic mountain
Words point to profound wisdom
Related note:
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)
Spiritual yearning hungers for meaning
Yearning heart, companion book, song
reads Ben Montgomery, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk.
Living, seeking through others’ journeys
Words to live by
Donna McArthur reads Tosha Silver, Outrageous Opening.
Trust patience, kindness, and love
I can soften my grip
All gods lead to love
Love force. Soften into hope
Do I Like Free Will? (S.) reads the Acts of the Apostles.
Beware wolves calling themselves Christians
Jen B. Wang listens to a meditation by Tara Brach, “Calling on your future self.”
Future self blesses the miracle
listens to Stan Roger, “The Mary Ellen Carter.”
Repeat: No matter, rise again.
When all else fails
Amy Hoppock watches BBC’s Call the Midwife.
Reader reborn, tended by midwives and Cancer diverts a reading life
Midwifery guide to good living
Persevere, resilient, smart, community, caring
Zina Gomez-Liss recites William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29 (When in disgrace).
Haply I think on thee
& William ShakespeareBest poem for low times
P.S.
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!
WOW, Tara! You've outdone even yourself -- and that's saying something. What a generous gift of hope and community. Perfect, absolutely perfect way to end the week..
Thank you for this amazing community project! I love that you ended it with Elizabeth's quote, it's perfect.