Karen Skalitzky, Interview #152

Name: Karen Skalitzky
 
Where you live: Chicago, IL
 
What you do as a vocation or avocation?

I am a writer, speaker, and spiritual director. My book, A Recipe for Hope: Stories of Transformation by People Struggling with Homelessness, was inspired by the men and women I met volunteering at Inspiration Café. www.arecipeforhope.com

I also have my own business as an educational consultant and am in the process of becoming an adoptive mom.
 
Your two favorite books:

Ah, there are so many! Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, recently captured my heart, and An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith, by Barbara Brown Taylor, is one I return to again and again.  
 
Your two favorite songs:

Bring on the Wonder – Sara McLachlan

Amazing Grace – as performed by Liz Wright

Why you are interested in spirituality?

To me, the spiritual path is a way of bringing us home to ourselves, to the wisdom that is already in us, to the wholeness that God is calling forth from us. Being on that journey and companioning others is an amazing gift.  
 
Your favorite quote:

This is from Isabelle Allende, best known for her book The House of Spirits. She was asked in an interview about the death of her daughter.

“Many years have gone by, but the feeling of loss is still there and there’s some sadness. I don’t want to get rid of that sadness; it’s part of who I am today. I feel like it’s a fertile soil at the bottom of my heart where everything wonderful grows – creativity, compassion, love, and even joy.”

Your favorite web sites:

I’m always inspired by simple ideas that generate immense goodness in the world. Here are two: www.storycorp.org and www.donorschoose.org.
 
Your hero?

Rachel Naomi Remen, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal, for reminding us of the healing power of our own stories. Remen is a physician who sits with people during times of great medical crisis.
 
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?

Letting go into, as my friend likes to say, and trusting.
 
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"

This place changes for me. As of late, I feel most spiritually connected in the quiet of the early morning when I’m working in the flower garden I planted. The city is still asleep, and I get to witness the beauty of creation all around me.
 

Karen's book: A Recipe for Hope: Stories of Transformation by People Struggling with Homelessness

Amy Julia Becker, Interview #151

Name:
  Amy Julia Becker

Where you live:
 Lawrenceville, NJ


What you do as a vocation or avocation?
 

I am a part-time writer of a blog called Thin Places: Faith Family, and Disability and a memoir, A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations and a Little Girl Named Penny. But I spend most of my time with our three children, ages 5, 3, and 7 months, who give me endless fodder for writing!

Your two favorite books:
 Two of my favorite books are Beloved by Toni Morrison and Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris

Your two favorite songs:
 Big Country (instrumental by Edgar Meyer with Bela Flek) and When the Saints by Sara Groves

Why you are interested in spirituality?
 
 Catching glimpses of God's Spirit at work in the world and in individual lives fascinates me because I believe we are all invited to live with God—rich, full, meaningful lives-- starting here and now and continuing on for eternity. 

Your favorite quote:
 


At this moment, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” which is often attributed to Martin Luther King, who was quoting 19th century abolitionist and Unitarian minister Theodore Parker

Your favorite web sites:
 


Bloom--Parenting Kids with Disabilities, Her.meneutics, the Christianity Today Women's Blog, Motherlode, the New York Times Parenting blog

Your hero?
 
 My daughter Penny, who is 5 1/2, has Down syndrome, for her courage, tenacity, and boundless love.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?
 


There's a verse in the Bible that says God gives "peace that passes understanding." I have experienced this peace at times in my life, but I would like for it to be a permanent state of being. 

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"

Some part of my family has spent the summer in Madison, Connecticut, for almost a century. When I sit on the porch there-- in the presence of an expanse of water, with the smell of the salt marsh behind me, and the memories of family gatherings, I call it a "thin place," a place where heaven and earth meet, if only for a moment. 


Amy Julia Becker is author of A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny (Bethany Books, September, 2011)

www.amyjuliabecker.com
http://www.patheos.com/community/thinplaces/

"Becker . . . knows how to grab a reader’s heartstrings and never let go . . ." (Publisher's Weekly)