MSI Press Blog

  The story behind Dia de Muertos is pretty simpe, really. Sula, the parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautist a, already had published five books about the Mission and about Catholic customs and beliefs, all of them in English. The parish, however, was pretty equally divided between English speakers and Spanish speakers with two Masses each Sunday in each language and holiday and holy day Masses bilingual. (The community of San Juan Bautista is a pretty evenly divided bilingual community, as well.) Sula, the parish cat, was present at all Masses. She was beloved by all parishioners. The "Sula books" were written to help raise funds for a very expensive retrofit requirement. (The church sits atop the intersection of three major fault lines and has twice fallen from earthquakes high on the Richter scale). Although most Spanish speakers in the parish could understand English, they felt left out of the Sula project. They wanted a book that spoke to their community in their lan

  Excerpt from Harnessing the Power of Grief : What other cultures can teach us   Proximity to other cultures offers opportunities to adopt much of their wisdom into our own culture. Paul C. Rosenblatt, a psychologist, tells us that cultures are not static. They are in a state of change (some more than others) with many individual differences. [Rosenblatt] [1] A Buddhist, a Jewish person, an African American, a Protestant, will grieve in the unique ways of their cultures. Variations exist among subgroups (based on lifestyle and income, religious variations within and between denominations), intermarriage, and cross-cultural influences. Consequently, we all are bumping into one another, learning from one another, loving one another, reading about one another, and interacting with one another.   Funerals and memorial services in Western culture tend to stand alone, like shooting stars in the night. They may be memorable and beautiful, but then we are left with the rest of the ni

   Excerpt from Thoughts without a Title (Henderson, editor) --  The Tale of Fuzz  Betty Lou Leaver Once upon a time in the wooded mountains of California, not all that far from the ocean but far enough not to know that it existed, there was born a little kitten. He had beautiful markings but never knew because he had no family to admire him. His hair was long and curly, and he had a very bushy tail. He looked like a ball of fuzz, but he did not know because he had no family to tell him.  One day, when he was only a few weeks old and alone except for the remains of his mother, who had become a meal for a hungry coyote, he ventured forth in search of safer lands and in search of food and water for he was, indeed, hungry and thirsty.  Before very long, he reached a river in the woods, a deep, cool river, and he drank from it thirstily. Near the river, he saw a quaint little cabin, and through the window he saw two children looking at a box that showed stories. The girl was

Excerpt: Lessons from Children Rule of the Road: Forge your armor out of resiliency Mile Markers : War Zone, Trauma, PTSD, Suicide, Dutch Levees, Bounce Back, Magical Thinking, Easy Temperament, Vulnerability, Consumer Nation, George Foreman, Mentoring, Open Communities, Persistence, Tree of Resiliency, Self-Evaluation, Exploitive Culture In the days and months after that game-changing ride home from Bob , I began to ponder how I might go about amending my own life to better reflect the principles first emphasized in my youth and latter reinvigorated by the example of this modest soul. As someone who had firsthand experience with poverty and minimal assets, I was surprised at how quickly I had bought into the desire to demonstrate to outsiders that here was a man who exceeded his humble beginnings. Now that I was equipped with a new self-awareness, would this knowledge translate into real and lasting change? Temptation to buy and consume in an attempt to feed the appeti

  Excerpt from The Rose and the Sword by Nanette Hucknall -- Tend the Light One of the positive qualities of the feminine is beauty in all its forms. The experience of beauty opens one’s heart, and also changes relationships with others. People often think of beauty in a superficial way and fail to appreciate its impact on their lives. The sheer numbers of people who frequent art museums always strikes us: although some may be drawn to a particular artist, or are knowledgeable about art, it is the beauty that draws, and beauty that is the magnet.             A similar experience can occur with all the arts: listening to a concert, watching dance, absorbing great writing – all can touch our hearts, as can, also, nature. Why are we so drawn to beautiful sunsets and sunrises? When nature paints glorious images on the sky canvas, are we not reborn in some way? The following tale illustrates the transformative power of beauty:   Robert sat at his desk with the bile of anger rising in him.