There’s a Chance #394
Sometimes you read the perfect book at the perfect time. I have done so twice.
I read Eat, Pray, Love by @ElizabethGilbert while I was going through my divorce and wow, did I feel like she was talking only to me. Clearly, she wasn’t as she is a profoundly gifted author who writes in a way which speaks directly into the souls of people. At least that has been my experience.
The circumstances of my life happened to directly correlate to what she was writing about in that book, and as a result, I limited the amount of the book I’d read each day to make it last. I wanted to savor it like a rare and delicious treat you can only enjoy in a certain place for a certain time. It was therapy for me and nursed me through my own emotions as I moved forward through my divorce.
The second book I just finished with a book study was How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (@ibramxk). I’ve highlighted, marked with post its and written in this book for the vast, rich, chewy depth of learning within it.
And yet, the real lessons hit me like a ton of bricks in the last three chapters which were powerful in their raw, direct correlation of racism with cancer. The chapters entitled failure and success were confrontive in the best way, forcing me to look at my own conversations about what it takes to affect meaningful change and where I’ve stopped.
I cried my way through the last chapter as its all too close to home with my best friend’s battle with esophageal cancer. Cancer cells divide and multiply, so does racism. Racism is a form of cancer. While the odds may not be good, we need to focus on the future to survive and heal.
In his words “once we lose hope, we are guaranteed to lose. But if we ignore the odds and fight to create an antiracist world, then we give humanity a chance to one day survive, a chance to live in communion, a chance to be forever free.”
Categories: Sue's Daily Blog
