Three for Thee!
I love Top 5 Things lists. Apparently lots of bloggers and their readers do. One of the best is Courtney Martin’s Sunday 5.
When I get together with friends, we almost always share our recent favorites in books, movies, and podcasts. Do you?
So, today I will share some recent faves in each of those three categories and invite you to add your own in the comments. If this idea proves useful to you, I will try to do a “Three for Thee” post once a week for a while.
Books
I attended a fitness class for the last five weeks. The teacher recommended the book The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. So I checked it out of the local public library.
The book has almost 44,000 reviews on Amazon! I have read many books about spirituality and mindfulness with similar themes and goals, and I wouldn’t choose to recommend this book as being superior to any of them — with one exception. I thought the short chapter about “Contemplating Death” packed a solid punch. [Someone else who read the book must have thought so too. I found numerous pencil check marks in the margins behind the most profound sentences 🙂 ]. Here are three quotes to whet your appetite:
“A wise being completely and totally embraces the reality, the inevitability, and the unpredictability of death.” (p. 157)
“It is death that makes life precious.” (p. 162)
“You really don’t need more time before death; what you need is more depth of experience during the time you’re given.” (p. 163)
Bonus question. What would you change about your life if you knew you only had one more week to live?
Movies
Instead of just one movie, I will recommend a source for many: PBS Passport!
You can sign up using the link above, or you can download the app for your phone or TV. For as little as $5 a month, you can have the whole archive of your favorite PBS shows to watch. I recommend that you give at least as much to PBS as the lowest amount Netflix charges for ad-free service (17.99/month). It’s a good way to support the high-quality broadcasts in a time when all public funds have been withdrawn. Stuart and I have two series running right now: The Forsyte Saga (Masterpiece Theater) and The West, a Ken Burns film, first broadcast in 1996.
We are getting ready to take a month-long road trip that ends in Phoenix, AZ, so The West is perfect for understanding the history of how Mexico, Spain, England, and the new United States all played their roles in the history of this magnificent landscape and how the Cheyanne, Kiowa, the Sioux, Navajo, and many other indigenous groups suffered as European settlers moved across the plains and the mountains to the ocean.
We also look forward to this series coming In March. A new version of the saga!:
Podcasts
I do a lot of walking, and usually I have the company of Ira Glass, Ezra Klein, Esther Perel, Krista Tippett, Padraig O’Tuama, Dani Shapiro, Joyce Vance, Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, and others speaking to me on my favorite podcasts via ear buds.
I also listen to some lesser-known podcasts, including one called Callings, designed for educators in liberal arts colleges. The most recent episode features guest Angela Duckworth, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania famous for her study of grit and the Ted Talk she gave on the same subject. Even if you have never been an educator, I invite you to listen to Duckworth. Her enthusiasm and optimism were inspired by Howard Thurman and Viktor Frankl, and they might be just the inspiration you need for living in dark times.
So there they are: three for thee!
What are your own recommendations? Can you second any of these? What else would you like to know?
Shirley, I like your bonus question: “ What would you change about your life if you knew you only had one more week to live?”
I thought about it for some time and surprised myself with the answer I came up with:
“Not a thing!”
I guess that means I’m ready when the call comes!
I have no doubt that you will be ready when the call comes, Elfrieda! The book recommends your answer. 🙂
Do you have any recommendations for reading or listening materials that might help others reach this state of grace?
My answer to your question about other reading material might surprise you. I’ve decided to read the bible from cover to cover (I’ve read lots in it, but never systematically from beginning to end). I am discovering what a chore it must have been for Hardy to translate into an African trade language and why it took years to do so! I am now in the book of Job and just finished reading the story of Esther. Those two plus the book of Ruth are wonderful. I’m so happy to finally be over all the horrible wars that happened after the Exodus! It was really exhausting!
I have also been reading about the life of CS Lewis, after reading a novel about his courtship and marriage. Fascinating! Such an interesting person!
I’m not surprised at all, Elfrieda. In fact, I identify with you completely on having read much of the Bible, some of it very carefully, but never having moved through it from Genesis to Revelation. When the new Anabaptist Bible was published last year, we ordered a copy and when we found the 365-Day Plan for reading the whole book, we decided to take up the challenge of daily progress. We are now on Day 309. I hate to tell you, but there is still a lot of gore ahead for you if you have just finished Esther. Today I read Ezekial 4-6 for example. Oh my.
CS Lewis was an interesting person indeed. I wonder if he ever got the whole way through the Bible. 🙂
This is a blast! You know how much I love books and movies—learning new things.
As an avid reader of my blog, you are aware that I’m finishing There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. At the moment, I have five items on hold at the library. I just received notice that Marjorie Morningstar by Hermann Wouk is ready for pick up. Whee!
We are PBS Passport members as well, and for sure I’m looking forward to Forsyte Saga. Maybe I’ll get as hooked on it as I was to Downton Abbey, a much longer series. I definitely recommend supporting your local PBS station:; we are their only source for funds now. 🙁
Because you asked, I’m into genealogy podcasts for about a year now, most notably ProjectKin on SubStack.
Happy Travels! I’m guessing one of your road trip destinations to the West may be Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yes?
We do have a lot of tastes in common, Marian. Thanks for recommending ProjectKin. That might be a podcast to explore as we travel west next week, a good time to listen to audio books and podcasts. I wasn’t aware that Substack has podcasts. I am pretty new to Substack, at least to putting my own blog up there. Haven’t fully explored all the options.
And, yes, we plan to visit Tulsa. It just so happens that the young man of the house will be turning 15 on the very day of our visit!
Please read Claire Keegan’s sweet and sad “Foster.” I also enjoyed “The Orange and Other Poems” by Wendy Cope. Recently, I enjoyed the 1984 film “Mass Appeal” starring Jack Lemmon as a “song and dance” priest whose faith is challenged by an abrasive, unvarnished deacon. I laughed and sighed. “Stuff You Missed in History Class” is a podcast presented in a factual, conversational way, newly released on Netflix. If I had a week to live, I’d tote what I’ve been meaning to give to the thrift store and go through another closet or two while praying and feeling gratitude for having lived. I’d also have my family over to tell them how much I love them. Thank you for this opportunity to share.
Hello, Ann. Welcome to this space! I have requested Foster from my local public library and am eager to check it out. I’ve been to Ireland twice and loved both experiences, so the setting will stimulate my imagination, I’m sure.
I also love getting a recommendation for a film that made someone else laugh and sigh. I’ve been dismayed about what is happening in the world, and I could certainly use some laughter along with my sighs. I also subscribed the the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast.
Your choice of going through closets and giving away clothes gives concrete expression to the term “Swedish Death Cleaning”! What an interesting idea. I would also want to gather my family around me and laugh, play, and pray with them!
I hope you come back, Ann. I’d like to learn more about you.