It's May Already?
This year--full of blessings--is flying by.
Some updates
We had a great launch for The Road to Hope: Responding to the Crisis of Addiction at the Shrine of St. Joseph in Stirling, NJ. We had about a hundred people attend, and we sold out of the seventy-five books we brought. Plus, a book cake! And homemade doughnuts!
Earlier today, Keaton and I were on CFN (Catholic Faith Network) Live to talk about the book. (Catch a replay here in a day or two.) It’s always extra fun to talk about a book when the interviewer is really familiar with the material, as Colleen was today.
As a reminder, the book is available on Amazon, Our Sunday Visitor, and wherever you like to buy your books. We need someone in every parish to be ready to help when someone comes looking for help regarding addiction—their own or their loved one’s. Let’s follow the Good Samaritan and “go and do likewise.”
What I’m reading
My graduate class ended last week, and my last paper is due Thursday. So this week, I’ll be spending some more time with “On Fairy-Stories,” “Leaf by Niggle,” and “Mythopoeia” by J.R.R. Tolkien, as I write about what I’ve learned and how I hope to apply it to my future work.
What my kids are reading
This month, this section is a celebration that my five-year-old is reading! He claims he can’t and that the reading lessons we do from this book are too hard…and then he reads whole sentences with barely a break. We have not been consistent with these lessons, largely because I was using little-brother nap time to get other work done.
Today we jumped back in with (my) hopes of finishing the course early in the summer. As it turns out, my not-so-little guy has learned a great deal in school this year and at home listening to stories, writing his siblings’ names, and more. I’m so grateful to see these new skills emerge. A summer with a reader is a happy summer!
Something I love
I think I wrote about the Hallow app last month, but I’ve learned so much in the Easter Acts Challenge, in which Jonathan Roumie reads a chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and biblical scholar Scott Hahn offers reflections. The breadth and depth of Hahn’s knowledge is incredible, and he makes connections that routinely blow my mind. I love experiencing the Word of God this way—best use of all the time I spend driving around town.
What I’m creating (knitting, lettering, embroidery, etc.)
I’m plugging away at a very basic sweater, while in the car if John’s driving or while watching The Chosen with the kids. I do think I can finish by the fall, and I’m happy to have an easy project to work up this summer.
(I bought this “Our Lady, Undoer of Knots” bag for a new family Mass book bag, but quickly realized it would better serve as a knitting bag. Created by Studio Senn.)
Where my work is
My first piece at America, “The works of Brian Doyle remind us of the unique holiness of children and childhood”
What I’m working on
I’m teaching a class! This summer, I invite you to enroll in “Picture Books: Craft and Critique with Lindsay Schlegel,” hosted by Catholic Literary Arts (if you don’t know this organization, get to know them!). Here’s the description:
When most people think of children’s literature, they think first of picture books. In a well-written children’s picture book, the text works in concert with the art. The story functions on multiple levels, and, most importantly, the child listener has an opportunity to engage with the adult reader and create a lifelong memory.
This four-week crash course in picture book writing combines a study of the form with practical critiques of the students’ work. The goal is to have a submission-ready manuscript and a stockpile of new ideas to pursue.
Class size is limited to ten students, so if you’re interested, act soon!
A quote to sit and sip with
Forgive me for quoting a whole stanza here, but I love this section of “Mythopoeia” by Tolkien. (Also, my twelve-year-old son used the term “sub-creator” in conversation recently, so I’m considering this indulgence a celebration of a parenting success.)
The heart of man is not compound of lies,
but draws some wisdom from the only Wise,
and still recalls him. Though now long estranged,
man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed.
Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned,
and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned,
his world-dominion by creative act:
not his to worship the great Artefact.
man, sub-creator, the refracted light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.
Though all the crannies of the world we filled
with elves and goblins, though we dared to build
gods and their houses out of dark and light,
and sow the seed of dragons, ’twas our right
(used or misused). The right has not decayed.
We make still by the law in which we’re made.