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...

    Today's book excerpt comes from Bob McGee's award-winning book,   A View through the Fog : FIRST DAYS         The late afternoon Bay Area breeze knows no season. My once white coveralls, now stained with red-oxide primer, helped take the bite away from the piercing April air, allowing me to become lost in the remarkable view of the Carquinez Straits as I looked out from the catwalk below the Benicia Bridge.      The sound of soft-soled work boots approaching me on the catwalk interrupted my reflective moment of solitude. Taking up the same pose as me, arms crossed, leaning across the top guard-rail of the catwalk, my paint foreman Don shared the view for a moment before whispering, “The Gate is hiring painters.”      My concentration broke, and I immediately turned my gaze on Don. Still facing out toward the straits, he said, “There’s three openings, but you’ve only got two days to get the paperwork in....

  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 ...

  Excerpt from  Harnessing the Power of Grief  (Potter): Grief in Modern Times   “Are we perhaps simply formalizing and making applicable to urban life a procedure that would naturally be followed in rural and more closely knit communities?” —Phyllis Silverman studied widowed and children’s grief and the benefits of mutual support [ Silverman ] [1]   Where we are today   Western culture gives limited attention and support to those who are grieving. After a few weeks of grieving, our action-oriented culture thinks (and hopes) you are okay and wants you to return to normal. Some may seem uncomfortable in speaking with you. You may sense that people are avoiding you or avoiding the topic of your loss in conversation. The level of discomfort may increase with the severity of the loss, e.g., a homicide, a suicide, the death of a child, or a sudden death. People may also underestimate the effect on you of other kinds of losses: divorce, relocation, or...