Presbyterian Outlook's Page Turners - Creativity > productivity

On making time and Black History Month Dear Outlook Readers,   I’m not the first to note that Black history is honored during the shortest month of the year. With February drawing to a close, I still have more Black authors on my list to read.   Fortunately, we can read Black creators any time of year, and the Outlook continues to highlight new contributions. In just the past few months, I heard a colleague share Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies in staff devotions while I recommended Robert Turner’s work on reparations to our social justice committee. At home, I pulled out What Makes You Come Alive to engage my teenage son in Howard Thurman’s thoughts on finding your path and Sacred Self-Care as a refresher for myself. There’s much to savor and learn from Black Christians and thought leaders!   In last month’s Page Turners, we featured Andy Johnson and the March for Justice, a welcome addition to the growing list of books for children that celebrate lived Black experiences. This month, I’m lifting up Yolanda Pierce’s The Wounds Are the Witness, thoughtfully reviewed by Nannette Dixon. Pierce, the dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, is well-known for In My Grandmother’s House, which shares the stories of the women who raised her and the God who saw them through both dark and joyful times. Her latest contribution is chock full of stories and insights. You’ll want to check it out.   Happy Reading,   Amy Pagliarella Book Review Editor BOOKS OF THE MONTH Making Time: A New Vision for Crafting a Life Beyond Productivity Maria Bowler Baker Books, 224 pages Published January 21, 2025 First, authors told us how to manage our time. Then, other authors suggested that we eschew time management as another way capitalism seeks to profit both from our work and our wants. I’ve gleaned wisdom from both kinds of books — and I still notice my family's accumulating breakfast dishes and my overflowing e-mail box. The sheer volume of books written to guide us away from time pressures and toward purposeful lives makes clear that there is no silver bullet.   Maria Bowler speaks to this conundrum with compassion and insight; she invites readers to “evaluate your time and effort creatively, not productively. The “producing” approach to time management suggests that if we re-adjust and re-order the moving parts of our daily life, we will be able to accomplish more, leading to greater satisfaction. But satisfaction proves elusive, as there is always something more to do. Bowler believes “(w)hen there is loving attention to how the process of life unfolds, the human heart yearns to join in.” In Making Time, creative action is presented as an alternative to productivity-bound action.   This is a fresh take on the “doing vs. being” dichotomy. It can be life-giving to remember that it’s okay to simply “be” rather than to always “do,” yet within the bustle of work and family life, the insistence to set aside time to “be” can feel equally tyrannical. “To really rest, you need to give up the imperative to be good at resting,” Bowler writes. “You can’t will yourself into relaxation, you can only soften into it and give yourself more and more permission for it. Think of it as being restored, not restoring yourself.”   This approach allows Making Time to stand out in a crowded field. When we ask, “How am I being?” we become curious. Creative. Unashamed. Less pressured. Able to sit in silence. Experience boredom. Only then do we see ourselves as “makers,” eager to join in the “holy and practical play” of creating, collaborating, and connecting with others. In Bowler’s economy, creating begets creating —“ideas don’t run out. When you use one, three more appear.”   Making Time isn’t a self-help guide, and it certainly isn’t the (non-existent) silver bullet. It is, however, a life-giving companion for the new year, one that invites us to see ourselves as creatives, eager to trust the greatest creative process: life. QUOTE OF THE MONTH “And here is the holy lesson that I have learned: there is no progress unless the wounded among us – those broken in heart and bruised in spirit – have space to tell their stories and share their burdens. Justice is only possible if the ones cast outside of the camp, the city, or the church are lovingly brought back into a changed and transformed community. The discarded and forsaken must be given the lead if we are to move forward in building God’s beloved community. Justice is only possible when we reject the sinful impulse, as Malcolm X describes it, to hate the people who are being oppressed and align ourselves with the powerful, the ones who are doing the oppressing … After all, is it progress if we leave the most vulnerable behind?” The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory Into Justice and Healing Yolanda Pierce Broadleaf Books, 196 pages February 4, 2025 Book Giveaway!    Congratulations to last month’s winner Mark Perry. Thanks to our friends at Convergent Children’s Books, they received a copy of Andy Johnson and the March for Justice. This month, one fortunate reader will receive a copy of The Wounds Are the Witness, written by Yolanda Pierce and generously donated by our friends at Broadleaf Books. If you're reading this note, then you're all set! Know someone else who should be reading Page Turners? Send them this link and they'll get entered for a chance to win, too. The contest closes on March 19. OTHER READS Children’s books to celebrate Black History For intentional caregivers who desire to instill values like diversity, courage, self-worth and compassion, books can open the door to important discussions and questions. Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human For anyone feeling hollowed out by grief, Cole Arthur Riley offers a space of grace. — Emily McGinley Creating a Culture of Repair: Taking Action on the Road to Reparations “(T)hose who dismiss the idea of reparations will appreciate [Robert Turner's] heartfelt and forward-facing approach that does not point fingers ... He does, however, hold everyone accountable.” — Antonia R. Coleman Have You Got Good Religion? Black Women’s Faith, Courage and Moral Leadership in the Civil Rights Movement AnneMarie Mingo highlights Black churchwomen’s moral leadership in the Civil Rights Movement, showcasing their faith, courage, and theo-moral imagination.

Rooted in the wisdom of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler’s six stages of grief outlined in their seminal work, Presbyterian Outlook's daily Lenten devotional offers a pathway through the heartache of life’s goodbyes, guiding you toward the promise of resurrection.