Nagoya – Remote working this year saved me from the lengthy explanations that accompany my observance of the Jewish High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which typically fall in late September and early October.
In Japan, usually saying ユダヤ教の休日です (yudayakyō no kyūjitsu desu, they’re Jewish holidays), gets the job done, or maybe I add 大事な (daijina, important) if necessary.
Things get stickier for my Japanese if I have to actually explain what the holidays are. Rosh Hashanah is simply the 新年 (shinnen, new year), so that’s easy, but Yom Kippur is tougher. 去年の罪が神に許されるかどうかの判断の日 (Kyonen no tsumi ga kami ni yurusareru ka dō ka no handan no hi, The day where God decides whether or not you are forgiven for your sins over the past year). 断食をし、朝から夕方までお祈りをしたりする (Danjiki o shi, asa kara yūgata made o-inari o shitari suru, One refrains from eating and prays from morning until dusk).
したりする is helpful in expressing that you do various things besides whatever verb precedes the structure, like how on Rosh Hashanah, 林檎や蜂蜜などの甘いものを食べたりする (ringo ya hachimitsu nado no amai mono o tabetari suru, you eat sweet things, such as apples and honey and so on).
宗教 (shūkyō, religion) and 礼拝 (reihai, religious worship) are certainly different in Japan. While the explanations about my Judaism can be more frustrating to say in Japanese, the distinct religious context of Japanese society is in some ways a relief. At least from the U.S., where 宗教は政治に関わってしまう (shūkyō wa seiji ni kakawatte-shimau, religion ends up getting completely involved with politics). Attaching しまう (shimau) to the te-form of a verb conveys the idea that an undesirable result “ends up” happening: 安息日を忘れてしまう (ansokubi o wasurete-shimau, to end up forgetting the Sabbath). I’ve also seen it translated as to “totally” do something to convey the nuance, like “I totally forgot the Sabbath.”
Japan is one of the least religious countries in the world. Surveys have shown that over 50% of Japanese say they are not 宗教的 (shūkyōteki, religious). About a third consider themselves 仏教 (bukkyō, Buddhist), somewhere between 10 and 30% are 神道 (shintō, Shinto), and less than 10% are キリスト教 (kiristokyō, Christian). The popularity of Christian weddings in Japan also reflects religious variance in Japan, キリスト教の結婚式が一番人気がある (kirisutokyō no kekkonshiki ga ichi-ban ninki ga aru, since Christian weddings are the most popular). Meanwhile just 10% of Japanese say that religion is important to their 日常生活 (nichijō seikatsu, daily life).
And while relatively few Japanese consider themselves 仏教 or 神道, these two religions dominate Japan’s landscape with their お寺 (o-tera, temples) and 神社 (jinja, shrines), and rule the calendar year with 祭り (matsuri, festival). Shinto and Buddhism have coexisted in Japan for over 1,000 years, and have even fused together.「神仏習合」という合同の信仰もある (“Shinbutsu shūgō” to iu gōdō no shinkō mo aru, There is also a combined belief system called “Shinbutsu-shūgō”).
Long story short, whatever your religious beliefs may be, they likely differ drastically from that of Japanese people, and will be met with simple curiosity in conversation. For Japanese practice, feel free to ask and describe your 信仰 (shinkō, faith), as in 神を信じているとまでは言わない (kami o shinjite-iru to made wa iwanai, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I believe in God).
とまでは言わない (To made wa iwanai) is a useful expression for saying that you can’t quite say that something is true, like 信心深いとまでは言わない (shinjinbukai to made wa iwanai, I wouldn’t call myself devout). Some other handy religious terms include 宗教行事 (shūkyō gyōji, religious events), 日曜学校 (nichiyō gakkō, Sunday school), and 聖書 (seisho, bible), in the trend of the oh-so-common, かつては日曜学校で聖書を勉強していたけれど、今はもう宗教的な生活はしていない (katsute wa nichiyō gakkō de seisho o benkyō shiteita keredo, ima wa mō shūkyōtekina seikatsu wa shite-inai, at one time, I used to study the bible at Sunday School, but I no longer have such a religious lifestyle).
Personally, I’ve felt that without any high-stakes politics pegged so closely to the topic of religion in Japan — at least compared to many of our home countries — speaking about it can lead to interesting and curious discussions. 怖がるトピックではない (Kowagaru topikku dewa nai, It’s not a topic to be scared of). 逆に、話してみたら？ (Gyaku ni, hanashite-mitara? On the contrary, why don’t you try talking about it?)
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Rapper Kanye West on Monday released his first official campaign video in his long-shot bid to be elected U.S. president on Nov. 3, focusing on religion and families.
“A member of the public was inadvertently allowed to enter … after advising they had a booking at the facility,” the spokeswoman said.
STUFF
National leader Judith Collins reacts to news only a fraction of MIQ stays have been paid for.
When asked how the woman got through security, the spokeswoman said a security guard at the fence line recorded her details, then prompted her to reception to talk about it with hotel staff.
The woman was wearing a face mask, sanitised and did not come into contact with guests or touch any surfaces, MIQ said.
“It was quickly established that the individual had a booking in the system which had been booked through a third party,” the spokesperson said.
“The hotel had previously cancelled the booking, however, the individual advised that they hadn’t been informed.”
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service deemed the incident a low public health risk, however the individual has been advised to monitor their health for 14 days as a precaution, MIQ said.
“An investigation is underway following the incident and corrective action is currently being taken to prevent this type of incident occurring again,” the MIQ spokeswoman said.
Butterfly Creek general manager John Dowsett said he’d been told by the Ministry of Health there was no health risk to any of his staff or the attendees of the conference on Tuesday morning.
Emily Ford/Stuff
Butterfly Creek general manager John Dowsett.
Dowsett saidhe was “bloody angry” there’d been another slip-up as his business had already been “hammered” by the lockdowns.
Who runs the facilities?
Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) is part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). It is jointly led by deputy chief executive Megan Main and Air Commodore Darryn Webb, who is MIQ head.
Among the staff inside the MIQs are police officers, NZ Defence Force and Aviation Security Service personnel, together with hotel workers and some private security.
On August 19, the Government announced 500 extra Defence Force personnel would be deployed to managed isolation facilities, and soldiers now guard the perimeter of the facilities.
The cover of Corona Virus Came to Town, a new children’s book by Pam Stradeski of LaSalle.Photo by Pam Stradeski /Windsor Star
“This situation, it’s not been terrible to the little ones,” said Stradeski, who has worked in child care for more than 25 years.
“As much as it affects parents, children are probably just finding they are getting more family time. Their mummies and daddies might be home more and not as busy.”
The kids in the book laugh, dance, and play — while the green creature spies on them.
As the book is geared for children still learning to read, the words don’t mention any of the science or politics of COVID-19.
However, Stradeski made sure to include a page acknowledging health care providers, emergency responders, and essential workers such as truck drivers and grocery store employees.
Feedback for the book has been overwhelmingly positive, Stradeski said. “Whenever I put something out, I never know how popular it’s going to be.”
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A page from the children’s book Corona Virus Came to Town, by Pam Stradeski of LaSalle.Photo by Pam Stradeski /Windsor Star
Corona Virus Came to Town is Stradeski’s fourth self-published children’s book.
The illustrations in the book are by her niece, Key Howe.
“She’s in London now,” Stradeski said. “She does the drawings for all my books. I love her dearly.”
The book is being sold for $6. The first print-run was just 100 copies.
“I’m not a chain store. I’m just a granny at home who stays with children,” Stradeski said. “Writing for kids is just a passion of mine.”
LaSalle’s Pam Stradeski holds up two of her self-published children’s books: My Special Blanket and Corona Virus Came to Town. Photographed Oct. 11, 2020.Photo by Nick Brancaccio /Windsor Star
The Bulgarian Book Association is to participate in the digital edition of the 72nd Frankfurt Book Fair, the association has announced.
The event will take place in the period October 14 to 18th with the participation of book publishers, booksellers and literary agents from 85 countries, including many European countries, China, Taiwan, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, USA, Canada, BTA has reported.
The program provides 70 hours of online events, conferences, interviews with world-renowned guests. Bulgaria aims to promote its literature in the West and to find opportunities for selling rights on the international market. The participation is funded by the Ministry of Culture.
Dale Carnegie, writer of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” had quoted that ” Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to no hope at all”. This is a forthright statement about resilient people.
Do you want to become a person who doesn’t give up when the situation seems impossible to win? If the answer is yes, you can strengthen up yourself internally by reading a book titled “Tough Times never last but tough people do”. It is written by Robert H. Schuller.
Robert H. Schuller was an American Television Evangelist, pastor, motivational speaker and author. He was renowned for the weekly television programmes “Hour of Power”. He has authored many other inspirational books like
o Way to the Good Life (1963)
o Your Future is Your Friend (1964),
o Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking (1967)
o Self-Love (1975)
o You Can Be the Person You Want to Be (1976)
o Toughminded Faith for Tenderhearted People (1979),
o Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (1982)
o The Power of Being Debt Free (1985);
o Living Positively One Day at a Time (1986)
o Success Is Never Ending, Failure Is Never Final (1990)
o Life’s Not Fair, But God Is Good (1991)
o Possibility Thinking (1993)
o Prayer: My Soul’s Adventure with God (1995),
o My Journey: From an Iowa Farm to a Cathedral of Dreams (2001)
o Hours of Power (2004)
o Don’t Throw Away Tomorrow (2005)
The book “Tough Times Never last, but Tough people do!” is an inspirational and motivational book. It was published in the year 1983. Although the book was printed in the early 1980s, still it is one of the most relevant books in this time of pandemic and economic turmoil because of closure of economic activity.
The reason for the relevancy of the book is it toughened up ourselves internally as we read the book. If we are tough inside we can faced any challenged in our life. As Knute Rockne, the American Football player had quoted “When the going gets tough the tough gets going”. And definitely this book will certainly fortify you internally.
The book is divided three sections:-
Section 1. Tough Times Never last, but Tough people do
Section 2. Here how you can be tough too!
Section 3. Beginning is half done. This section is one of the most inspiring section of the book.
The book begins with the story of some of the famous and not so famous personalities who have struggled and overcome the difficulties in their lives. The author narrates the spirit lifting tales of how he built up the Crystal cathedral with its many problems, roadblocks and obstacles. The authors also lay bare his tough early childhood. He had described it so vividly and so perceptibly that you will feel the troubles and pain in his childhood period as if it had happened in your life. These you can find in Section 1 of the book.
Section 2 begins with the autopsy and analysis of problem. The special characteristic of problem is that “Nobody is free from problem. A problem free life is an illusion a mirage in the desert. It is a dangerously deceptive perception, which can mislead, blind and distract. To pursue a problem free life is to run after an elusive fantasy; it is a waste of mental and physical energies”.
Further, how to manage and overpower problems in a positive way has also been discussed in this book. What is leadership and Ten commandment of possibility thinking has also been discussed in this section. The last section i.e. Section no. 3 is the most important and inspiring part of the book.
Here you will find that the 26 letters of the English Alphabet being turn into action words so that you may have the inspiration to take action on your current problem and come out a winner on the other side.
This is the brief summary of the book.
Now the reasons why you should read this book are discussed below:-
It help you look at your problems in proper perspectives:-
The author has listed some of the way to looked at your problem so that it doesn’t overwhelm you. He listed some of the eternal truth of your Problem.
Some of the immutable truth of your problems are as follows:-
A. Everybody has problem. A person with no problem can be found only in the graveyard.
B. Every problem has a limited time span. Most of the problem doesn’t last more than a month or a year.
C. Every problem has positive possibilities. As there is a saying that every cloud has silver lining. There is always something we can learn from problems that can make our life better.
D. You can choose what your problem can do to you. You have the power to run away and hide from the problem. Or you can choose to be brave and meet problems head on.
The 12 Principles of managing problem positively:- The author has listed principles of managing and overcoming the problem of our life positively. Here some of the important principles are discussed.
a. Don’t underestimate: Most of the problems in our life never get solves because we tend to underestimate the seriousness of the problem. Further, we tend to underrate our potential to solve the problem. Thus, we need not to underestimate a problem or our power to cope with it.
b. Don’t exaggerate:- Further there are people who are inclined to amplify their problem. We don’t need it to exaggerate but we need to look at it in a proper perspectives.
c. Don’t wait, start acting. :- If we have a problem we need to take action to solves the problem at hand as soon as possible. The sooner you take action the earlier the problem will be solved.
d. Don’t aggravate:- We have the power to make any problem better or worse. We do this by acting positively or negatively. Remember “Nobody is defeated until he starts blaming somebody else”.
e. Illuminate:- Illuminate your mind by learning new things. Get smart and get smarter by asking these questions:-
i. Has any other person faced my problem and how he overcome it?
ii. What really is my problem?
f. Sublimate: The author has written that every problem is loaded with possibilities. When you can’t eliminate the problem, channelize your problem into something useful. This is very important because there are problems for which there are no solution.
g. Insulate : You need to insulate yourself from negative thought and bad habits. We need to change our habits into a positive habit.
Leadership: If we want to manage our problem successfully, we need to take a chance, charge and control. And how do we take control? We need to practice leadership. Leadership is the force that selects our dreams and our goals.
Leadership can be practice in the following way:-
a. Don’t surrender leadership to outside forces:- Never surrender leadership to forces such as lack of fund, property or location. If you need more money, or relocate your business take charge and take control. The author has quoted “Money flows to good ideas: good ideas spawn other good ideas; dreams inspire creativity in money management.
b. Don’t surrender leadership to fences: Fences are the limiting concept like I don’t have required education, I lack the required fund. It causes us to lower our goals, with the result that we strive for and achieve less than our capabilities. We need to believe in our ability.
c. Don’t surrender leadership to your fantasies: We have a brilliant idea to solve our problems and soon we reject it due to our negative fantasies. If you are one of these persons. Remember “If your dreams are bigger than most, if your ideas are more creative. There will be criticism”
d. Surrender your leadership to God :- let faith in God be in control of every decision and every action. Surrender yourself to God. When you are look at your life and where it’s headed, ask yourself these questions:- Who am I?, Why am I here? Where am I headed?
Ten commandment of Possibility thinking. In this part the authors has defined Management as “Management is the control of a resource in order to minimize waste and maximize the development of latent possibilities”. Further in this chapter the writer has given the ways to manage an idea through 10 Commandment of Possibility Thinking. Some of the Commandments are given below:-
a. Never reject a possibility because you see something wrong with it:- There is something wrong with every good idea. Isolate and neutralize the negative from the possibilities. And start working on that idea.
b. Never reject an idea or a possibility because you won’t get the credit:- you need not worry about who gets the credit. Decisions must never be made on ego need. They must be made on human need and market pressures. Decide today: Would you rather satisfy your ego or enjoy the fruit of success.
c. Never reject an idea because you don’t have the money, manpower, muscles or months to achieve it. If you don’t have them, you can get them. Spend enough time, use enough energy, develop enough human resources, acquire enough financial capital and you can do almost anything.
Here we need to remember that “Nothing is more difficult than to keep waiting, working, plodding & maintaining patience through dark time. But we must”.
For the marvellous piece of philosophy entitled “Anyway”:- the philosophy read as
People are unreasonable, illogical and self centered,
Love them anyway
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives
Do good anyway
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies
Succeed anyway
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable
Be honest and frank anyway
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow
Do good anyway
The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway
People favour underdogs but follow only top dogs
Fight for some underdogs anyway
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
Alphabet for action:- The people at the top of the ladder work harder than anybody else. Because they have gotten into the habit of working hard. To really succeed in life, all you have to do is
a. Get started
b. Never quit. Here in this chapter all the 26 letters of English Alphabets are transformed into action words such as
i. A is for affirm:- Affirm that you can do.
ii. B is for believe that somehow, sometime, somewhere through someone’s help you can achieve your heart’s highest goals.
iii. C for Commit. Commit yourself to a dream
iv. D Dare to try, to love.
v. E is for Educate. Educate yourself.
vi. F Find the talent, the possibilities, the time, the money and the way.
vii. G for Give. A giving attitude is the secret to successful living.
viii. H for Hope. Hope is holding on, praying on expectantly.
Similarly the remaining letters are transformed into action words.
So this book is a must read for all the people who are facing problems in this times of turmoil. Just read it, Most of your problem will be solved by acting on the Principles given in this book. Just read it and enjoy your life.
* Nongmaithem Rakesh Singh wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at rakeshnon(AT)gmail(DOT)com
In the summer of 2016, three days after a gunman killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, a poem went viral on social media. Called “Good Bones,” the text captured the balance between the tragedies of the world, the lure of ignorance, and the life of children in these exceptionally chaotic times — perhaps why it resonated with the public. “Life is short,” the poem, written by Maggie Smith, starts, “though I keep this from my children.”
Those lines became a sort of mantra for the Age of Trump. They also made Smith a household name, as celebrities tweeted snippets of her poem, and publications like Washington Post, the Guardian wrote articles about it; the poem was first published in the literary journal Waxwing.
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This week, Smith’s new essay collection, “KEEP MOVING: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change” — which was appropriately born out of a series of tweets — hit bookstores. The book follows Smith’s journey over the last couple years, in which she’s had to rebuild her life after a divorce, and cope with the grief that follows the end of a marriage. For Smith, to keep moving isn’t necessarily a physical endeavor, but rather a mindset and a way to not get stuck in the past. While the book was written before the pandemic in a world that feels like a lifetime ago, there are many lessons that can be learned as we cope with constant loss during this tough time. “How do we not look back constantly and try to compare the current reality to what we may have had before?” Smith asks. Here, we talk about what it means to “keep moving” in a scary world.
I interviewed Maggie Smith in August. As usual, this interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
We live in such a goal-oriented society, but your book “Keep Moving” defies that mindset, despite it literally encouraging people to move. Can you explain what the phrase “keep moving” means to you, in this book?
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That’s a good question. For me, it was mostly about avoiding looking in the rear view mirror, and about being forward-thinking and forward-moving. Someone said fairly early on, “can’t we just stay still today, do we really have to keep praying every day?” And my response has always been, “It’s not about moving, it’s just about not looking back.” So for me, it was not as goal-oriented as you say, but more just about, “how do we not look back constantly, and try to compare the current reality to what we may have had before?”
And I think that can be dangerous in a couple of ways when things are hard in the moment. It’s really easy to get nostalgic about when things weren’t so hard. So when you’re going through a divorce, it’s really easy to be like, “Oh, remember when we were happy,” and to look at photos and rethink everything. And that can be painful. But also when things are good, it’s easy to taint that by looking back and thinking, “Well, it wasn’t always good, so probably something bad will happen again.” Instead of just living in the moment and just taking whatever it is the good and the bad, and just living with it and pushing forward.
Right.
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I like what you say about living in a goal-oriented society, because I think we do. I think we’re always sort of pressing on and thinking, as soon as we get one thing, it’s like “OK, I have that so now what’s next? How do I top that?” Someone very wise told me recently that I should wake up every morning, and the question I should ask myself is “What else is possible?” Which is not really about setting goals or trying to amass or accumulate or achieve anything, it’s just more about being open to what might happen.
You wrote this before the pandemic, but the sentiment “keep moving” feels really important right now. How have you kept moving during this time?
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Oh, this time has been tricky. It’s funny. I feel like I was in a better place emotionally for a while. After the divorce, before the pandemic, I had a narrow window of relative peace where I felt like, “Okay, I’m improving, things feel a little bit more even-keeled.” And then as soon as early March, as soon as we all went on lockdown, it was really interesting — which is maybe a euphemistic adjective for what I mean, in that I felt a lot of the same emotions I felt in the middle of my divorce again, which is very off-kilter, very destabilized. And just that sense of, “I don’t know what’s coming, but I know it’s not going to look like what the six months prior looked like.”
Totally.
That feeling of, “I know what my life used to be and now it’s not that anymore.” And so in some ways it was really triggering because that sense of losing my balance and my momentum, it brought me back to that place. One of the things that’s kept me moving is having my kids here. I have joint custody, so they’re not here every day. They’re here half the week and I cannot crumble because I’ve got them and they’re having their own struggles with this, not being able to spend time with friends, not having school or summer camp. And so having to parent through this has been challenging, but also it helps keep my priorities in check. I can’t really wallow about anything because I’m really trying to stay positive and things like that for them. So I would say that, that’s been one thing.
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Another thing has just been writing. That’s how I process things. So I’ve continued writing maybe more during the last six months than I was in the six months prior. Writing has been really helpful, but I think whenever people are going through tough things, one of the best things you can do for yourself is whatever the thing is that makes you feel most like yourself. I know that’s different for everyone, but what makes me feel closest to myself is writing. That inner conversation I get to have with myself on paper. Regardless of what’s going on in my personal life or what’s going on with work stuff or with the kids or anything like that, it just helps me to kind of debrief with myself a little bit. And so that’s been really useful.
Could you share more about what your writing process was like for this book? You do such a good job of capturing your insights and epiphanies and I’m wondering how you do that?
Well, the book happened in two pieces, which is that I started writing a book without realizing I was writing a book. Really, I started [with] the tweets, and not until a few months in, basically people [were] saying, “This should be a book.” I had just planned on tweeting until I didn’t need it for myself anymore because these were all just notes to myself. And so when I started really listening to people saying, “This should be a book,” and I realized that made sense, people wanted something they could give to someone else who was going through a hard time, when flowers and casseroles don’t quite cut it.
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Then I had a conversation with my editor. We thought more about, “how do we give the tweets a little bit more heft, and a little bit more context?” Really just to have a book that’s quote after quote after quote, that didn’t really seem like that was going to be the thing. So my editor was like, “Okay, so what if there are some essays in this book that kind of contextualize the quotes? What can you write about that might give some context to the quotes?” And so really I sat down and thought about it.
And for me, the natural place to go was metaphor and I think that’s the poet in me. So while they’re essays, I approached them with a poet’s sensibility. And I think a lot of what has helped me get through difficult times is telling myself a different story about the experience. When you’re going through something really difficult, it’s easy to default to like, “Well, this is what’s happening.” And it’s usually an unkind narrative that we tell ourselves in that moment. “This person is leaving because I’m X.” Or, “This didn’t work out because I’m Y.” Our self-talk is so unkind. And so, a lot of what has helped me press on […] are metaphors that helped me reframe some of these experiences and think about them in a different way. If that makes sense.
That totally makes sense. It’s interesting how you say that our self-talk can be really unkind. How do you grapple with that personally and as a writer?
I think part of it is just being aware of it. Maybe the trickiest thing is realizing that the way that you think of something may not be the truth. You know, feelings aren’t facts. And so when you’re going through something really difficult, it’s just so easy to blame yourself or to get bogged down and think, “It’s not going to get any better. It’s going to continue to be this hard. I can’t do this.” And, really what the tweets were born from was me needing to believe something different.
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I call myself a recovering pessimist for a reason. I was always — anyone in my family would tell you that I was the pessimist in the family, and I think part of it is just self-protection. I think it’s natural to think and expect the worst.
It’s like if something decent happens, you’re pleasantly surprised, but you haven’t set yourself up to have your hopes dashed. And so I’m always the person who expected the worst quietly and then if anything good happens, I would be pleasantly surprised.
But it’s really hard to function as a parent and as a professional and just as a human, when you’re going through something really devastating and you honestly don’t believe it’s going to get any better. You can’t get out of bed if you don’t believe it’s going to get any better. Part of what I was doing with the tweets really was a pep talk to myself into believing over time that it will get better.
After a while, I think you can start feeling the hope. Sometimes I say that hope is like a garment that didn’t fit very well. And I kept trying it on over and over again. At first it was really oversized and scratchy and terrible, but the more I tried it on, the better it fit and the better I felt and I was able to press through and believe my own story.
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Another part of the reason it got better was because of the other unexpected thing that happened, which was that in a time when I felt more alone than I’d ever felt in my life, I started being really vulnerable on social media and realized I wasn’t alone at all. And this community happened where I basically just stood up in front of thousands of people and said, “My life is really hard right now, but I’m really trying,” and I just kept doing that every day. And no one laughed at me or said, “No it’s not, it’s not going to be okay.” People showed up and said, “Oh my gosh, it’s going to be fine. And actually, I’m going through the same thing and I really needed to hear that.” Or, “I went through that five years ago and look at the better place I’m in.” And just the act of saying it out loud every day and feeling the sense of community honestly, really, really helped.
You wrote about how loss can be generative. And would you say that this book is an example of that for you?
Oh, certainly. I’ve joked before, like I would definitely have chosen an intact family over a divorce in a book written in the wake of a divorce, but I wasn’t given that choice. So I do feel glad to have had the opportunity to have written it, not just because it was good for me to have written it. It definitely helped, writing this book helped me process a lot, but my hope is that reading this book might help other people going through their own sort of “what now?” times and struggles, especially this year with everything happening around the world and that it wasn’t all in pain. It wasn’t just that I had a terrible couple of years for nothing.
So yeah. This certainly feels like, I don’t know, I don’t really believe in lemonade from lemons, but it feels like I have something to show for how much that hurt.
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In the book, you also talk about how strength comes from asking for help and in many ways how we are more resilient when we work together and we’re more like collaborative and I’m wondering, how do you think we can normalize asking for help?
It is really hard. And I think we are, especially Americans we’re such individuals. We’re all about individualism and personal freedom. And unfortunately we still, I think carry a lot of the bootstraps mentality where you are sort of the goal just to be able to get through something on your own and say, “Look how strong I was. I did this by myself.” When really, yes, I guess we could see that as a sign of strength, but it also seems terribly lonely and unnecessary. Why wouldn’t the sign of strength be: “Look, I was really hurting and look at all of these beautiful people who came and lifted this burden with me.” To me, it’s one of the most beautiful things that happened to me over the past two years, which strengthened friendships and also new friendships because a lot of people helped me carry what I had to carry.
And, it’s not that I couldn’t have done it by myself, but it would have been A) a lot harder, and B), a lot lonelier and honestly, a lot less enjoyable.
“When you tell somebody that they’re too Catholic to be on the bench, when you tell them they’re going to be a Catholic judge, not an American judge, that’s bigotry,” the Missouri Republican said. “The pattern and practice of bigotry from members of this committee must be stopped, and I would expect that it be renounced.”
But the only members who spent significant time on Barrett’s faith during the hearings on Monday were the Republicans. Hawley at one point even suggested that a key court precedent related to Roe v. Wade should be off-limits, deeming it a veiled attempt to discuss her religion.
Committee Democrats see Barrett’s faith as a third rail, to be avoided at all costs, especially after missteps during her confirmation hearing for a federal appeals court three years ago. For them, Monday’s hearing was not even so much about her record as it was about the upcoming election, GOP hypocrisy and the Affordable Care Act.
Why then did the Republicans keep referring to attacks on her religion? One key reason is that conservatives already feel emboldened about the Supreme Court’s direction when it comes to religious liberty.
Last term, the court moved decisively to the right on the issue, allowing more religion in public life. And if Barrett is confirmed quickly, she will hear a major religious liberty case on November 4 brought by a Catholic foster agency that was denied a government contract because it refused to work with same-sex couples. The agency, Catholic Social Services, sued under the First Amendment. Religious conservatives want to use the case to overturn major precedent and loosen restrictions on the use of taxpayer funds to support religion.
But there is another reason for Hawley’s comments that goes to the confirmation process in general.
“Supreme Court confirmation hearings are political theater, especially on the first day, when senators make their opening statements,” said Jonathan H. Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University. “Democrats are obsessing about the ACA, and Republicans are preemptively striking Democrats for attacking Judge Barrett’s religion.”
Hawley’s complaints were rooted in an exchange in 2017, when Barrett appeared before the committee for her confirmation to the lower court.
Back then, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, pressed Barrett on her writing about faith and the law during the years she spent as a professor at the University of Notre Dame. In a tense exchange, the senator questioned whether the judicial nominee could separate her Catholic views from her legal opinions.
“The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” Feinstein said. “And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.”
The exchange invigorated and emboldened religious conservatives, who said Barrett had been a victim of anti-Catholic bias. It also put Barrett on the conservative map, and soon after, supporters of religious liberty began pressing for her to be added to President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court short list if a vacancy were to arise.
On Monday, Republicans seized on that exchange.
“There’s no religious test to serve on the Supreme Court. Why? Because the Constitution says so,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
“This committee has acted like it’s the job of the committee to delve into people’s religious communities. That’s nuts,” said Nebraska’s Sen. Ben Sasse. “Because in this committee, and in this Congress, and in this constitutional structure, religious liberty is the basic truth, and whatever you or I or Judge Barrett believe about God isn’t any of the government’s business.”
Hawley also talked about questions that Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii had asked Brian Buescher, who was up for a seat on the US District Court for the District of Nebraska in 2018, about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization founded in 1882.
“For those watching at home, that’s right, you heard me correctly,” Hawley said. “The Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States, who has questioned past nominees who’ve come before this committee about their membership in Catholic fraternal organizations.”
As for Barrett, she brought up her religion herself, never shying from the topic.
“I believe in the power of prayer,” she told the senators, “and it has been uplifting to hear that so many people are praying for me.”
Griswold v. Connecticut
Throughout the day, the focus on Democrats’ part was largely the future of the Affordable Care Act, a case that will be heard by the Supreme Court — and maybe Barrett — a week after the election. And while the they talked about the possibility of invalidating the entire sprawling law amid the pandemic, there are more narrow ways the court could rule, by severing more controversial portions but allowing other provisions to stand.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, agreed that religious liberty is “foundational to our civics and our republic.” He said his side of the dais would focus not on Barrett’s faith, but on what’s she written and what she has said. He expressed particular concern about the possibility that the court’s new conservative majority might overturn long-settled precedent. He mentioned a 1965 case called Griswold v. Connecticut establishing that married couples have a right to obtain and use contraception in the privacy of their own homes as well as Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, which legalized abortion nationwide.
His comment triggered a fierce reaction from Hawley. “I just heard my colleague, Sen. Coons, make a reference to an old case, the Griswold case, which I can only assume is another hit at Judge Barrett’s religious faith, referring to Catholic doctrinal beliefs,” he said.
“This is the kind of thing I’m talking about, and this is the sort of attacks that must stop,” Hawley concluded.
Griswold comes up in most every confirmation hearing because its legal underpinnings concerning the right to privacy surfaced again in Roe v. Wade. Roe is almost 50 years old, but it remains a central focus of the fight to confirm justices to the Supreme Court, and is usually discussed in the context of Griswold in these hearings.
In fact, during the 2017 Barrett hearing, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked her about it.
“Do you think there’s a right to privacy in the Constitution? I mean, when Griswold came down and you read it, what did you think? Did you say, ‘This is a well-reasoned opinion, and I agree with it?’ ” he asked.
Coons declined to respond directly to Hawley’s attacks.
“I’m not going to help Sen. Hawley run for president,” Coons said. “I mean my focus today was on the concerns that I’m hearing from Delawarians, which was that there is a Supreme Court case a week after the election where the Affordable Care Act is at risk.”
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said: “Senate Republicans are focusing on a false ruse to try to distract from the fact that health care access for millions and other civil rights are at stake with this nomination.”
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“Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), told the agency’s regular press briefing in Geneva.
But, he explained, it is achieved by protecting people from the virus, “not by exposing them to it”.
“Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak”, the WHO chief said, calling it “scientifically and ethically problematic”.
To obtain herd immunity from measles, for example, about 95 per cent of the population must be vaccinated. However, according to WHO estimates, less than 10 per cent of the global population has any immunity to the coronavirus, leaving the “vast majority” of the world susceptible.
“Letting the virus circulate unchecked, therefore, means allowing unnecessary infections, suffering and death”, Tedros said.
Tedros noted that in recent days, the world was seeing the most rapid rise in infections during the course of the whole pandemic, especially in Europe and the Americas.
“Each of the last four days has been the highest number of cases reported so far”, he stated. “Many cities and countries are also reporting an increase in hospitalizations and intensive care bed occupancy”.
The WHO chief also reminded that, as an “uneven pandemic”, every country is responding differently, and stressed that outbreaks can be controlled using targeted measures, such as by preventing amplifying events, isolation and testing.
“It’s not a choice between letting the virus run free and shutting down our societies” he declared.
Again: ‘No silver bullet’
WHO noted that many have harnessed their stay-at-home time to develop plans, train health workers, increase testing time and capacity, and improve patient care.
And digital technologies are helping to make tried-and-tested public health tools even more effective, such as better smartphone apps to support contact tracing efforts.
“We well understand the frustration that many people, communities and Governments are feeling as the pandemic drags on, and as cases rise again”, Tedros said.
However, there are “no shortcuts, and no silver bullets”, he added.
Only a comprehensive approach, using every tool in the toolbox, has proven effective.
“My message to every country now weighing up its options is: you can do it too.”
