Posts by Greta Holt
Courage, humility, and the Hero’s Journey
In May, with spring in swing, we are looking at stages of growth. Today, we look at the teens and twenties, which means, of course, The Hero’s Journey. Photo on https://www.themarysue.com/wrinkle-in-time-book-vs-movie/ All of us want to be the heroes of our own lives—not victims or villains, neither the whiners nor the addicts,…
Read More »Choose Acceptance: children, reading, and play
In May, with spring in swing, we are looking at stages of growth. Oh, how we loved playing Kickball in Akron, Pennsylvania, across the street from MCC’s (Mennonite Central Committee) headquarters! The alleys and streets rang with our kids’ cries of Go, go!, Kick it! and the inevitable, Not fair! Photo by Priscilla Du Preez…
Read More »Math, wisdom, and white sand
Photo by Antoine Dautry on Unsplash In May, with spring finally in swing, we will be looking at stages of growth. My thanks to author Nancy Nordenson for contributing a chapter from one of her excellent books of spirituality, Just Think: Nourish Your Mind to Feed Your Soul (Baker Books, 2004). Her quiet call…
Read More »Courage, humility, and vulnerability
Courage, humility and vulnerability: But first, God speed, Winnie Mandela. Life was not easy. Mom and Dad knew Hugh Masekela in Botswana. He helped bring about the Botswana International School of Music. For a long time, we had the VHS of the 1987 Graceland concert, now it’s in DVD. The concert was held in Harare, Zimbabwe.…
Read More »Courage, humility, and heights
Courage, humility, and heights: April is poetry month! My thanks to Jeff Gundy for adding immeasurably to this post by allowing me to present his poem Stringer below. Photo by KAP Jasa on Unsplash When I (Greta) was five, I pedaled my tricycle all the way down Grandma’s many concrete steps in Berne, Indiana, gaining…
Read More »Guns, talk, and money
This is the third and final post on guns. On to other things! I hope you can find some time to peruse the resources below. The Jubilee ‘Middle Ground’ video, where regular people talk to each other about guns, is particularly enlightening. (Sorry about the brief adverts on the YouTube clips.) 1. In the satirical…
Read More »Courage, humility, and protest
In the mid 1960s, our church’s youth group, with kids from other Mennonite towns, went to Chicago to help-the-black-people.😇 What we didn’t know. We worked in a child care center in Markham and other places, learning more than we could ever teach. Then, we got word of the Chicago Freedom Movement’s marches. With our leaders,…
Read More »Can we make progress on guns?
My blog looks at relationships among courage, humility and action, from an Anabaptist’s point of view. The blog is not primarily political, but something is happening, and we find it hard to turn our eyes away. It’s been less than a week since the March 24th ‘March for our Lives’. As a former teacher, I…
Read More »Courage, humility and—business?
As I’ve searched for religious articles about quiet courage, I’ve found some beautiful and powerful examples. But the internet is a big place, and too often I have found articles in which simple faith and ethical behavior were not central. Those writings either pounded the reader with what the scriptures demand, or examined a courageous act…
Read More »How are courage and humility shown?
Last year, we Mennonites and the U.N. lost MJ (Michael) Sharp to rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By all accounts, he was tough as nails, sometimes lonely, but absolutely determined to help people solve difficult problems using peace and justice. Links: https://mcc.org/stories/mourning-death-michael-j-sharp http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/03/29/521962848/remembering-michael-sharp-he-risked-his-life-to-make-peace But I imagine that many of his days were hum…
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