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Originally published in 1990. Many post-World War I autobiographies
focus on episodes of crisis. In a century torn by global strife and
breakdown of cultural institutions, autobiography provides a way of
recovering from crisis and restructuring reality-a healing act that
involves the writer in a "wrestle with words and meanings" that can
be deeply regenerative. Narration can be a way of purging guilt and
pain, re-centering the self, and reconnecting with community after
a shattering experience has driven one into silence and isolation.
This book considers the problems, such as finding words for the
inexplicable, the narrative perspective chosen and the traditional
forms or narrative structures as means of re-patterning
consciousness. It looks at seven autobiographies as crisis
narratives and demonstrates how therapy and art merge in
autobiography so that the literature acts back upon life. Works
considered: Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth; Elie Wiesel's
Night; Christa Wolf's Kinheitsmuster (A Model Childhood); C. S.
Lewis' A Grief Observed; Peter Handke's Wunschloses Unglueck (A
Sorrow Beyond Dreams); Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born; Robert
Prisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Originally published in 1990. Many post-World War I autobiographies
focus on episodes of crisis. In a century torn by global strife and
breakdown of cultural institutions, autobiography provides a way of
recovering from crisis and restructuring reality-a healing act that
involves the writer in a "wrestle with words and meanings" that can
be deeply regenerative. Narration can be a way of purging guilt and
pain, re-centering the self, and reconnecting with community after
a shattering experience has driven one into silence and isolation.
This book considers the problems, such as finding words for the
inexplicable, the narrative perspective chosen and the traditional
forms or narrative structures as means of re-patterning
consciousness. It looks at seven autobiographies as crisis
narratives and demonstrates how therapy and art merge in
autobiography so that the literature acts back upon life. Works
considered: Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth; Elie Wiesel's
Night; Christa Wolf's Kinheitsmuster (A Model Childhood); C. S.
Lewis' A Grief Observed; Peter Handke's Wunschloses Unglueck (A
Sorrow Beyond Dreams); Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born; Robert
Prisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
This book's short reflections on fifty-one phrases from Scripture
are based on the ancient Benedictine practice of lectio divina, or
"holy reading." In her meditations Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
invites readers to consider how a word or phrase may summon us to
attention and provide theological reference points, comforting
images, ways to reframe conventional ideas, or simply beautiful
ways of expressing what matters. The three sections of the book -
"Assurance," "Invitation," and "Surprise" - organize the
reflections by tone as well as theme. Some of the reflections are
devotional, some speculative, some whimsical, some edgy. In all of
them readers may see modeled a way of accepting the many
invitations that Scripture offers to enter its sacred spaces, play
with possibilities, and connect the biblical word with the lives we
are given to live.
In her What's in a Phrase? - winner of the 2015 Christianity Today
award in Spirituality - Marilyn McEntyre showed readers how brief
scriptural phrases can evoke and invite. In Word by Word McEntyre
invites readers to dwell with single words - remembering their
biblical contexts, considering the personal associations they bring
up, and allowing them to become a focus for prayer and meditation.
With seven phrases, questions, or prompts for each of the fifteen
words she considers (see CONTENTS section), McEntyre guides readers
in examining the word from a different angle each day of the week.
She draws on the spiritual practices of lectio divina and centering
prayer as she encourages readers to allow these single words to
help us pause and hear the voice of the Spirit. "I invite you to
discover," says McEntyre in her introduction, "how words may become
little fountains of grace. How a single word may, if you hold it
for a while, become a prayer."
Patient Poets: Illness from Inside Out invites readers to consider
what caregivers and medical professionals may learn from poetry by
patients. It offers reflections on poetry as a particularly apt
vehicle for articulating the often isolating experiences of pain,
fatigue, changed life rhythms, altered self-understanding,
embarrassment, resistance, and acceptance.
Synopsis: Many remember The Scarlet Letter as required reading for
reluctant sixteen year olds. The unnamed, elusive narrator of
Hawthorne's "tale of human frailty and sorrow" is-some readers
might say maddeningly-indirect, ambiguous, and inconsistent.
Readers who hope to arrive at satisfying judgments about the book's
four iconic characters-Hester, Arthur, Roger, and Pearl-are often
left to arrive at their conclusions by guess and inference. The
narrator provides what seems to be willfully incomplete
information. His point of view shifts from one moral or historical
perspective to another without announcement or apology. Reading
Like a Serpent invites readers to reconsider this American classic
as Hawthorne's challenge to the American public to become more
generous, versatile, and responsible readers-especially of the
Bible, a book Hawthorne hoped to rescue from moralistic literalists
and legalists, reminding us that "the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life." Endorsements: "Marilyn McEntyre's meditation
on The Scarlet Letter offers fresh insights on every page, in a
lively invitation to reflect on the way words constrain-and
convey-our apprehension of mystery. Ultimately, McEntyre invites us
to read not just Hawthorne but the Gospels afresh, with an ear to
hear the subversive, sly, cryptic, life-giving words of Jesus in
ways that impel us toward generosity and grace." -Paul Delaney
Professor of English, Westmont College Author of Tom Stoppard: The
Moral Vision of the Major Plays (1990) "Whether Nathaniel Hawthorne
is a profound theologian can be debated, but the case is clear as
far as . . . McEntyre is concerned. Once again, she opens the world
of literature to penetrating theological insight, exposing the many
dimensions of the human way as they are reflected in Hawthorne's
classic The Scarlet Letter. The literary quality of her
interpretation may rightly be classed with that of Hawthorne
himself." -Patrick Miller Professor of Old Testament Theology
Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary "McEntyre tells us at the
very beginning of Reading Like a Serpent that Hawthorne's Scarlet
Letter is one of her favorite books. Her love for Hawthorne's novel
and her delight in the crafting of words combine in happy
circumstance for her readers. Read Hawthorne again with this book
by your side, especially if you savor complex and elegant
writing-his and her own." -Rev. L. Ann Hallisey, DMin
Organizational and Leadership Consulting "I first began Reading
Like a Serpent on the morning when I was to teach the story of
Sodom and Gomorrah. With manuscript in hand, I flew to my class to
discuss the sin of bad reading and its deathly consequences. Each
of these prescient and elegant essays invites readers to dare a
radical rereading of the times through Hawthorne's hermeneutic,
which is at once complex, polyvalent, paradoxical, and wise.
Moreover, McEntyre's prose will preach " -Cynthia A. Jarvis
Minister at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Coeditor of The Power to Comprehend with All the Saints (2009)
Author Biography: Marilyn Chandler McEntyre is a former professor
of English and Fellow of the Gaede Institute at Westmont College.
She teaches at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Her most recent books
include Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (2009) and The Color
of Light (2007).
Wise, nurturing, faith-based reflections for caregivers of dying
loved ones At some point in our lives most of us will become
caregivers. It is a vocation that can last for a few weeks of
recovery time or for a long period of chronic illness or
disability, and it will involve us intimately in others'
preparation for death. This collection of poignant reflections by
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre is for family members and friends who are
doing the life-changing work of accompanying someone on the final
stretch of his or her journey. In quiet counterpoint to our hurried
lives, A Long Letting Go invites caregivers to slow down for
reflection and prayer as they prepare to say good-bye to a beloved
friend or family member. Based on McEntyre's professional and
personal experience with the dying, these gentle meditations offer
comfort, direction, hope, respite, and consolation to caregivers
during a difficult season of their own lives.
We live longer now than previous generations did, and many of us
die more slowly. Those who are dying have a lot of things to deal
with. Fear. Discouragement. Boredom. Pain. Regrets. And much more.
This wonderful book by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre offers fifty-two
short, poignant meditations on the very real issues faced by people
who are dying. McEntyre addresses such things as anger, losing
control, curiosity, doubt, loss of privacy, family conflict, and
spiritual torpor. Her insightful reflections speak to the heart of
the physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of dying. Brief
concluding prayers further lift up the reader as he or she seeks to
faithfully navigate the great transition through death to a new
life.
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