PARCHMENT PONDERERS
You are invited to participate in a new monthly book discussion group. We will meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 3:30pm to 5:00pm in the Ric Craffey Social Hall. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 13th.
The book we will be reading and discussing is Seeds of Hope, Stories of Systemic Change, edited by Rev. James T. Keane, S.J. associate editor at America magazine. The book is fittingly dedicated to the poorest of the poor. The authors are careful to clarify the notion that “Systemic change should not be confused with systematic change, which is a planned, step-by-step process. Systemic change aims at transforming a complete series of interacting elements…This book deals with systemic change in works among the poor…that aims beyond providing food, clothing and shelter to alleviate the immediate needs of the poor. It focuses on assisting the needy to change the overall structures within which they live and help them develop strategies by which they can emerge from poverty.” In the words of Fredrick Ozanam, “Charity is not sufficient. It treats the wounds but does not stop the blows that cause them…”
Seeds of Hope is a series of short stories about groups of people living in multiple countries, struggling to survive, and how with the help of caring people following the Gospel values, were able to bring about systemic change that changed the lives of these groups of people.
As an introduction to our book, we will focus our time at the November meeting, reading together the Prologue (pages 1-9) and Chapter 3, Mission-Oriented Strategies for Systemic Change (pages 43-48). Books will be available for purchase ($8 each) at the first meeting of Parchment Ponderers, on Wednesday afternoon, November 8.
Our December meeting will focus on the first 2 short stories (Chapters 1 and 2). I hope to see you on Wednesday, December 13.
Blessings & Peace, George Krinke ([email protected])