Saturday Good Reads

Last weekend was one crazy time. The Trump Administration issued an executive order on immigration, a few people read it, and a lot of people reacted to it. A very few people (like Courtney Christenson at the Preemptive Love Coalition) tried to bring some perspective by describing what precisely it was and wasn’t, but they were generally mowed down (moderation and perspective are the first things to go in a time of extremes).

I’m on the side of perspective and moderation, as tenuous as that can be. There are a few of us out there. Writer Jen Oshman turned the argument on its head – and wondered if the political crisis was something else entirely – God calling missionaries. She relates her own experiences with immigration – and underscores how difficult it can be. Jon Mertz at Thin Difference sums it up well: we are in a “trust depression.” And Diane Walker suggests allowing crazy times like we’re living in to deepen our reflections.

Israeli filmmaker Boris Maftsir is documenting the World War II Holocaust in Russia and the Ukraine, before the evidence disappears. The Nazis apparently didn’t think Jews in Soviet Union were worth shipping to the death and labor camps; most were killed in mass executions. It’s worth remembering that half of the total number of Jews who died in the Holocaust died in the Soviet Union.

As it turns out, George III drafted a letter of abdication in 1783, but it was never finalized. The BBC has the story.

Poetry

Refinery Lines – Jason Ramsey at Altarwork.

Lip Service – Jerry Barrett at Gerald the Writer.

Art and Photography

Maryland/Baltimore/Mark Twain Hotel, Revisited – Chris Naffziger at St. Louis Patina.

The Films of Boris Maftsir – Izabella Tabarovsky at Tablet Magazine.

In the Fog – Nancy Marie Davis.

Do Not Despoil Nature and Frozen Prairie – Tim Good at Pics, Poems, and Ponderings and Fine Arts America, respectively.

Writing

Writers: Style Still Matters – Ann Kroeker.

Becoming Jane (Austen) – Rick Wilcox at Literary Life.

British Stuff

George III’s abdication letter released – BBC News (Hat Tip: J of India).

Pictures of WW1 submarines stranded on English coast revealed – BBC News.

Life and Culture

President Trump’s Refugee Order: 5 Things to Know – Courtney Christenson at Preemptive Love Coalition (Hat Tip: Patricia Hunter and Kris Camealey).

We Are in a Trust Depression – Jon Mertz at Thin Difference.

Why Bad Guys Win at Work – Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic at Harvard Business Review.

J.D. Vance – An Insightful Discussion – Jared Olivetti at Gentle Reformation.

Justice in the Courts: Does God Care About the Nominee? – David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers.

Faith

Allowing Troubled Waters to Deepen Our Reflections – Diane Walker at Contemplative Photography.

The Immigration Crisis May Be a Providential Call to Make a Move – Jen Oshman at The Oshman Odyssey.

Who’s to Blame for the Greatest Myth in the History of Science and Religion? These Two Guys – Justin Taylor at Evangelical History.

Matt Redman Sings “10, 000 Reasons” – in Times Square

Painting: Man Reading, oil on canvas (1910) by John Singer Sargent; Fogg At Museum, Cambridge, Mass.