Messiah University's The Bridge magazine - Vol. 1 2022 - Getting Lost In A Book

F E AT U R E S T O R Y

GETTING LOST

BOOK

ELLEN BYRNE ILLUSTRATION

IN A

As we emerge from a global pandemic, here’s what we read/are reading as we navigated an uncertain (but hopeful) time in history.

1 2 | VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 • T H E B R I D G E • M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y

M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y • T H E B R I D G E • VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 | 1 3

ADRIFT

GETTING LOST IN A BOOK

AS THE PANDEMIC BROKE, WE TRIED TO MAKE SENSE OF OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD.

Salt to the Sea

The greatest maritime disaster you’ve never heard of My dad told me about “Salt to the Sea,” an historical fiction novel, so we both decided to read it over the pandemic. It took us back to our Eastern European roots and described what we imagine my mom went through during her days as a Lithuanian refugee who was on a ship from Germany for 45 days to escape the Nazis and come to America in 1951. It was a great conversation piece for my dad, who lives in Florida, during our daily 9:17 a.m. Facetime chats. The story involves six key characters, each with their own story of desperation to leave the country they loved for a better life. The book provided me a better appreciation for what those refugees experienced, so much suffering, struggle, hunger and torment. The refugees boarded the ill-fated Wilhelm Gusloff, a luxury cruise liner turned into supply and medical ship. Over 9,000 people died in the ship wreck caused by a Russian submarine torpedo in the greatest maritime disaster that no one has heard of.

— Ramona Fritschi, web services manager

1 4 | VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 • T H E B R I D G E • M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y

IN UNCERTAIN TIMES Quicksand

A woman trapped in the 1920s social order One book that helped me cope through the pandemic was Nella Larsen’s “Quicksand.”

I often struggled to stay motivated to read for pleasure in the past few semesters, but Larsen’s excellent style, engaging characters and fast-moving plot kept me flipping page after page. I was done the book after a few days, reading between doing homework and sleeping.

I related a lot to the heroine—Helga Crane—who battles with herself to make sense of her life, passions, interests and career. Just like many of Larsen’s other works, “Quicksand” portrays the hardship of African American women and general obstacles women faced in the ’20s. Crane doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere, but is stuck mentally and physically.

Crane surely makes “Quicksand” a picaresque novel: a story about a woman who cannot escape herself. Yet, she frequently changes her wants and needs even when many of her desires are socially unattainable for someone of her race/gender/class: a 23-year-old mixedrace woman living in the South.

A lot of people, including myself, have felt trapped inside and felt a loss of identity due to the pandemic. Crane’s motivation to flee to the next city, the next career or the next love, feels a lot like how the world continues to be uncertain, indecisive. People are quitting jobs they’ve worked at for decades, new variants of COVID continue to arise and climate change continues to affect the globe. The future is full of uncertainty. — Molly McKim ’23

“ Quicksand” taught me to not fear uncertainty, but to embrace it. Take what you can, accept change and keep moving.” — Molly McKim ’23

M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y • T H E B R I D G E • VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 | 1 5

A SERIES

GETTING LOST IN A BOOK

Barchester Towers A much-loved bishop has died.

Who will succeed him?

During the pandemic, one book I pulled off of the library shelf was Anthony Trollope’s “Barchester Towers.” I must confess that I usually find myself reading more nonfiction, but I was really in the mood for a good story that I could just read with pleasure without the concentration needed for more lofty works. My interest in Trollope began when [Professor Emeritus] Morris Sider suggested some years back that I read the first book of the two-part series, “The Warden.” Set in a fictitious 19th-century English town, “Barchester Towers” picks up where “The Warden” ends and centers on the resident minister Rev. Septimus Harding, and the investigation of his longtime administration of Hiram Hospital. Numerous character intrigues involving clergy and their families create a plot that was, though uncomplicated, intriguing enough to have kept me reading on. Interestingly, in the film version of the story, Alan Rickman, whom Harry Potter fans will recognize as Severus Snape, plays the Rev. Obadiah Slope, one of literature’s most cunningly manipulative characters. All in all, it was a fun read and a good introduction to Trollope.

— Michael Rice, digital resources librarian

1 6 | VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 • T H E B R I D G E • M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y

OF EVENTS WITH NOWHERE TO GO, WHAT BETTER TIME TO READ A SERIES? OR TWO.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Travel to the land of Narnia One of the first books that I picked up during the beginning of the pandemic was “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. When things were shutting down and the number of COVID-19 cases was going up, this book was an escape through a wardrobe into a realm of fauns, talking lions, Turkish delight and snow. What drew me to this book was not just nostalgia and the desire to forget everything that showed up on my Instagram feed, but a longing for hope. In Narnia, there is always a bit of hope beyond all the bad. Aslan has not really died; he will come back again. The children will not be without Aslan in their own world; they will simply come to know him by another name. The battle has not been lost; victory is just around the corner.

These bits of hope may be fictional, but they serve as powerful reminders of the real bits of hope present in our world. Even when all hope seems lost, both in the midst of the pandemic and in Lewis’s magical world, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” continues to encourage me to seek the threads of hope woven into my everyday life.

— Micaiah Saldaña ’24, English major

M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y • T H E B R I D G E • VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 | 1 7

A

GETTING LOST IN A BOOK

Be the Bridge:

Pursuing God’s Heart for Reconciliation Having tough conversations in the spirit of the gospel

SARAH NAGENGAST ’23

During the early days of the pandemic in 2020, my husband Mike and I began virtually attending Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts, right outside of Boston.

We joined a small group, via Zoom, which focused on racial reconciliation in the church and beyond. The book that we initially read was Latasha Morrison’s “Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation.”

Morrison’s honest unpacking of her own experiences of being an African American woman, her experiences in the white church, civil rights history, scripture focused on forgiveness, lament and reconciliation made this a perfect text for our group. At the conclusion of each chapter were discussion/reflection questions, which promoted important conversations including taking steps to be a bridge builder for racial reconciliation.

I found this book to be both deeply convicting and encouraging as Morrison prompts the reader to not simply sit back but instead to take action toward restorative reconciliation.

Morrison is the founder of Be the Bridge, an organization committed to equipping people across five countries to be racial reconcilers in the spirit of the gospel.

— Inger Lindquist Blount, director of human resources

Bryce, Lonette and Todd Allen created the Bridge to Freedom children’s book collection.

1 8 | VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 • T H E B R I D G E • M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y

BRIDGE TO FREEDOM CONNECTING OUR BELIEFS TO ACTIONS CAN BE A JOURNEY OF DEEP CONVICTION AND ADVOCACY.

Hosea Williams: A Lifetime of Defiance and Protest A leader who spent decades fighting for civil and voting rights

BRIDGE TO FREEDOM NEW CHILDREN’S COLLECTION DEBUTS AT MURRAY LIBRARY On Jan. 18, Murray Library dedicated the Bridge to Freedom Collection, an assortment of children’s resources based on themes of equality, freedom, justice and reconciliation.

The collection was established through the donation of 133 children’s books from the Allen family — Vice President for Diversity Affairs Todd Allen, Acquisitions Technician Lonette Allen and their son Bryce.

The resources will be used by students in the education department for coursework and field experiences, but the space is open to

When you list the names of the architects of Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights movement, one man who often gets lost in the shuffle is Hosea Williams.

Growing in up in Georgia in the 1980s, I’d often seen Williams on the local news every year as he provided thousands of Thanksgiving dinners to the poor. Curious to learn more about him, I picked up the new book, “Hosea Williams: A Lifetime of Defiance and Protest” by Rolundus R. Rice.

My reading levels had surged and plummeted with the pandemic—105 books in 2020, 57 books in 2021. For 2022, I wanted to savor fewer books, really study them. So, in honor of Black History month, I posted facts about Williams on Facebook and Instagram for 28 days in a row.

everyone. The collection will continue to grow every year.

“With the establishment of the Collection, it is our hope and prayer that this space will touch those who come here, that not only will they be different, but so too will this world be different because of them and what they’ve learned here,” said Todd Allen. “We want them to know better our shared history, so that they will be inspired to make this world a better place for all of us to live.” —Staff report

What did I learn? Williams—who billed himself as “unbought and unbossed”—was infinitely quotable. Here’s one of my favorites: “I had never met God until I met Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said. “King was not my God, but I saw God within King.”

I also learned that, while he’d walked side by side with John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on “Bloody Sunday,” that was merely one event in the full life of a complex man. A World War II veteran with a degree in chemistry, he served five terms as a Georgia state representative. He marched for civil rights well into his 60s. Was he flawed? Yes. Did he ever stop working on behalf of the poor? Never. — Anna Seip, editor

5 BOOKS TO START YOUR OWN CHILDREN’S LIBRARY We asked Lonette Allen which five books she’d pick for new parents starting their own library, and she chose the following based on “subjects of affirmation, resilience and hope for children of color.”

1. “ M IS FOR MELANIN: A CELEBRATION OF THE BLACK CHILD” 2. “ THE FIERCE 44: BLACK AMERICANS WHO SHOOK UP THE WORLD” 3. “ ALL BECAUSE YOU MATTER”

4. “ A CHILD’S INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: THE EXPERIENCE, PEOPLE AND EVENTS THAT SHAPED OUR COUNTRY” 5. “ WE SHALL OVERCOME”

All five books can be found in Murray Library.

M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y • T H E B R I D G E • VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 | 1 9

GETTING LOST IN A BOOK

GOD’S GUIDANCE Paul Nisly, an English professor at Messiah for 36 years, recently wrote his memoir, “God’s Guidance: A Kansas Amish Boy Reflects on Being Led to Places He Had Not Planned to Go.” He says for years he felt an urge to write “some reflections on my life, both the wonderful, as well as the difficult, the challenging, the almost overwhelming.”

The pandemic provided the space and the disciplined focus to write. “At heart, I wanted to reflect on God’s guidance on my life and the life of our family, especially my wife Laura, who faced her serious health challenges with incredible grace and courage,” said Nisly.

While he’s not selling the memoir, interested readers need only contact him at pnisly@messiah.edu and pay $5 in shipping to receive it.

SHELTERING MERCY Dan Wilt ’87, recently published the book, “Sheltering Mercy,” co-written with his friend Ryan Whitaker Smith.

Dedicated to rediscovering the Psalms, the book serves as a guide for personal devotion and meditation through free-verse prayer renderings of Psalms 1-75.

“Writing poetry became a way for me to process the challenges of life,” said Wilt, who has served as a pastor and educator. “Those moments of revelation, struggle and delight spilled over into words on a page. I co-wrote this book through one of the most difficult seasons of my life, and it felt very fitting given that we were praying the Psalms.” — Molly McKim ’23

2 0 | VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 • T H E B R I D G E • M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y

KEEPING THE Every Good Endeavor:

Connecting Your Work to God’s Work The call to redeem our work for His Kingdom I love to read and welcomed the early days of the pandemic when almost all parts of life slowed down and there was ample free time. I was getting my MBA at the time and enjoyed reading cover to cover all assigned texts compared to just skimming them. (I know we aren’t supposed to admit that.) The book that stands out the most is Tim Keller’s “Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work.” The book focuses on how we can connect our work, regardless of what it is, to God’s Kingdom work. It was both encouraging and convicting to learn more about God’s purpose for work, our culture’s response and the call to redeem our work for His Kingdom.

Of course, the pandemic has continued to hang around longer than we would have hoped. My first unassigned pandemic read was Adam Grant’s “Think Again,” a great book, as well. In a world where it is common to “double down” on opinions or beliefs, it was refreshing and challenging to examine where in my own life I need to spend some time rethinking and challenging assumptions.

— Kevin Ogden ’14, director of community wellness initiatives and campus recreation

FAITH

AS WE PERSEVERED, WE SAW GOD’S FAITHFULNESS ALL AROUND.

Life Together

The importance of gathering

Of the books read during this “season,” my most meaningful read was actually a re-read of a book that’s been around for 80+ years: “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Over the pandemic season, the one area that I’ve watched and experienced (we all have) is the impact on gathering, on being together, on sharing a meal with friends – the disruption of community. The impact varies depending on the level of community we’re accustomed to. Even before the pandemic, trends on isolation and loneliness were up and to the right.

The pandemic has served to exacerbate and lay bare the trend. For me, and perhaps you, it has impacted what we’ve taken for granted – Christ-centered community – brothers and

sisters in Christ gathering together, practicing the “one another” admonishments that are so much a part of what it means to follow Jesus … together. The question for me is how do I respond? How do I push back on a cultural trend that increasingly and very subtly promotes lives of independent isolation?

Bonhoeffer’s words are as true today as they were nearly a century ago. I’d commend the read (re-read) to you. — Phil Smith ’76, senior development ambassador, Hope International

As we make our way through a new normal, books can help us find renewed faith, learn about moments in history, discover characters (real and imagined) and escape to lands unknown. What book will you get lost in next?

M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y • T H E B R I D G E • VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 | 2 1

F E AT U R E S T O R Y

P I L F T P I R SC THE

ide of s k r a d k mines a x e w boo e r n o s n s i ure rofe Film p elebrity cult ,c media

2 2 | VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 • T H E B R I D G E • M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y

Want to read about how media consumption has corrupted Hollywood? How about failed end-of-time prophecies, black holes or climate change? Then you might enjoy “The Year of the Monster,” a collection of 16 short stories and essays by Tara Stillions Whitehead, Messiah University assistant professor of film, video and digital media.

Planned for release in September, the book explores the uglier side of the media and culture surrounding Hollywood and the human condition.

For example, one story—“Man With a Knife”—discusses how the film “Chinatown” is taught as a classic and a perfect screenplay while its director, Roman Polanski, who cast himself as the man with a knife who assaults Jack Nicholson’s character, has been a fugitive from the U.S. criminal justice system since the 1970s.

“The book calls into question who we allow to entertain us,” she said.

After the pandemic hit, Whitehead decided to reorganize some of the work she’d written throughout her career. “It became a book about human monstrosity, but also humanizing the monster in some contexts. There are characters that are morally ambiguous, and there are endings that are not the resolutions that you want,” she said.

The collection includes stories about addiction, the fetish of celebrity and victim shaming. “Each story tests the limits of empathy: where your empathy lies and why you would empathize with certain characters,” she said.

“Monster” serves as a warning to recognize and prevent “monstrous” behavior in ourselves. “The book looks for the humanity left behind, that persists in all of us after experiencing the wrath and trauma of monstrous people and institutions,” she said.

The book is written in script prose

format. “I love the idea of teaching the reader how to read a script. In a self-reflexive way, as they read along the content shifts and it turns into not just reading a script but watching it happen,” she said.

WHO IS SHE?

Born and raised in Southern California, Whitehead found her passion for film in high school, leading her to pursue a cinema-television production degree at the University of Southern California. “Once I went to film school, I felt like I was in charge of my identity. I think being exposed to so many great resources there and be able to express myself visually was very foundational,” she said.

After graduating in 2006, she worked at Warner Brothers as the assistant to executive producer for the television shows, “Two and a Half Men” and “Big Bang Theory.” She then attended San Diego State University’s Master of Fine Arts writing program and graduated in 2012.

Whitehead realized she wanted to be a teacher in graduate school.

She taught English composition and creative writing at HACC Gettysburg after moving to Mechanicsburg from California with her husband and daughter in 2013. Two years later, she started working at Messiah. “[While I’m teaching,] I feel like I’m constantly learning, seeking out new films, new books, new technologies, so it feeds that desire to explore and discover new things,” she said.

One of her favorite parts about working at Messiah is the impact her teaching can have on her film students. Much like her book explains, she believes the film industry needs an overhaul. “If I can have any effect on the people who go out into the world and make movies and media, this can be a great place to do it,” she said.

“The Year of the Monster” follows Whitehead’s 2021 publication, “Blood Histories,” which focuses what it means to be a woman through heritage, genetics, femininity and more.

—Molly McKim ’23

M E S S I A H U N I V E R S I T Y • T H E B R I D G E • VO L U M E 1 2 0 2 2 | 2 3