Leah Libresco's Blog, page 21
October 27, 2015
Offering Magpie Prayers to God at First Things
When Arriving at Amen, my book on learning to pray, came out, I gave a talk on some of the unexpected ways I found to reach out to God (Fermat’s Little Theorem, people mummified in honey, etc). First Things has just made the video available, if you’d like to check it out! [The video isn't embeddable, [Read More...]
October 26, 2015
Building a Both/And Philanthropy
Over at Fare Forward, I’m doing a paired review of Jeremy Beer’s The Philanthropic Revolution: An Alternative History of American Charity and Will MacAskill’s Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference and talking about how to balance the spiritual and material goals of charity. Reading the two books side by side, it’s clear [Read More...]
October 22, 2015
7QT: Drunk Historians, Silly Bodybuilders, Clever Proofs
— 1 — I’ve usually avoided Drunk History (a show where heavily in their cups historians summarize a notable life or event, and then have their garbled retellings reenacted by actors) because I saw an episode that involved vomiting, which I’d prefer not to see. But this episode about Harriet Tubman’s in the Civil War [Read More...]
How To Offer Community Without Communion
I’m over at First Things today, talking about why people may want to drop barriers to Communion out of fear of excluding the people who most need strength and support, and offering suggestions for other ways to see, know, and love our pewmates: Communion is often the sign of acceptance that people seek—not just because it’s [Read More...]
October 20, 2015
Extending Family and Keeping an Honorary Aunt in your Basement
I love this essay by Mikkee Hall (“Why I moved 1,600 miles to live downstairs from my godchildren”) on expanding families and supporting unusual vocations to love in the Washington Post. As I hit my mid-30s, I knew it was time to make a radical change. So when my best friend and her husband moved [Read More...]
October 15, 2015
How Do You Lance A Festering Resentment?
I’m curious what readers (religious or not) wind up doing when you’re frustrated by/or angry at someone. I’ve just been reading Letters to a Beginner: On Giving One’s Life To God by Abbess Thaisia of Leushino and she writes sharply against idle talk and gossip: It begins under the pretext of conversing, of discussing some business, but [Read More...]
October 14, 2015
I’m headed to CA for the Convinced premiere!
If any readers live out by Orange County, CA, or have friends who do, I’ll be there this Friday for the premiere of Convinced, a documentary about converts to Catholicism. Convinced includes interviews with a number of converts to Catholicism, and the one I’m most excited to meet in person is Holly Ordway, the author of Not [Read More...]
October 13, 2015
The Pitiful Princedom of Hannibal
At First Things, Alexi Sargeant has an interesting take on the kind of evil on display in the tv show Hannibal. (Note: I don’t watch the show — too brutal — so my experience of it is mostly gifsets shared on tumblr; I do love the showrunner’s previous show Pushing Daisies). So, I recommend the essay as [Read More...]
October 12, 2015
Beginning the Benedict Option Today
I got to hear Rod Dreher and Ken Myers (of the Mars Hill Audio Journal) discuss the Benedict Option this weekend at the Tocqueville Forum. At least 200 people turned out, so, when it came time for questions, I wanted to make sure to ask something that would help us all do something in the [Read More...]
October 9, 2015
7QT: Breaking Bicycle, Weight, and Genre Rules
— 1 — I know, from personal experience, that the expression “It’s like riding a bike, one never forgets” is false, but I still really enjoyed seeing the design for a bike designed to go fast, flouting all the rules for road races. — 2 — And speaking of changing standards, Nautilus has a nice piece [Read More...]
