#TreatYoShelf: 05/30/19

by Dan Masterton

One of the areas that has, does, and will always pique my interest highly is where humanity emerges and is even highlighted in sports. Sports can easily be written off as frivolous, meaningless, or worse, and certainly has its dark side of revenue and profit obsession, objectifying people as commodities for entertainment, and struggling to use its heft to properly address issues inflamed by its own players, such as domestic violence. However, it can also bring to light the good within us.

Last night, Cubs player Albert Almora hit a foul ball, a screaming line drive straight down the foul line toward the seats. It struck a young girl, and she was immediately rushed out of her seat to emergency aid. No replay was shown or details shared, but the cameras and commentators focused on Almora, because he immediately knew what happened and slunk to his knees, head in hands, terrified for the accident he had just inadvertently caused. His teammate came from the on-deck circle to console him; another teammate left second base to do the same; his manager came from the dugout to reassure him that it was an accident over which he didn't have control. Even his opponents stopped to kneel down and gather themselves in thought (or maybe even prayer) as the stadium went quite quiet and activity slowed for a few minutes.

MLB mandated expanded netting after similar accidents, and this may only catalyze increased mandates to further protect fans. These things are accidents, and stuff like that can happen at many of favorite leisure events. The neat moments here were the level of concern and humanity shown spontaneously by athletes best known for compartmentalizing things and being single-minded on competition. This was perhaps best crystallized when, half an inning later, Almora stopped on his way back to the dugout to stop with the security guard near where the accident occurred. He listened to her talk about what happened, fell into her embrace, and could be seen crying. I obviously pray this little girl will recover and have no lasting effects, other than the relationship Almora wishes to establish with her and her family going forward.

It mattered so much how Almora's teammates reacted in the moment tonight. Good people showed why they are good people.

— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) May 30, 2019

A really tough scene at Minute Maid Park over the last inning. Albert Almora Jr. of the Cubs hit a hard line-drive foul into the stands that hit a young child. Almora Jr. was extremely shaken up and after the next half inning, he was consoled by MMP security personnel. pic.twitter.com/2hfHX4hvNd

— SportsTalk 790 (@SportsTalk790) May 30, 2019

"I'm speechless, at a loss for words. Being a father of two boys." Albert Almora speaks after scary foul ball incident: https://t.co/wIl0a3TxAr pic.twitter.com/ONxuzw85jA

— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) May 30, 2019

Almora: “As soon as I hit it the first person I locked eyes on was her... just praying. I’m speechless ... being a father with two boys. ...God willing I’ll be able to have a relationship with that family the rest of my life.”

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) May 30, 2019

“Hopefully I’ll have a relationship with the (girl’s) family for the rest of my life.” - Almora

— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) May 30, 2019

* * *

Now, just a few links today:

"Remote Workers Are Outperforming Office Workers--Here's Why" by Brian de Haaff via Inc.com

Social media and technology give us many ways to communicate with each other, but they also create many new avenues by which we can ignore each other. An interesting application of these new technologies is the increase in telecommuting or remote work. Intuitively, I wondered if remote workers become siloed and disconnected from their work community or team. Yet, here, this author cites studies that claim just the opposite -- remote workers have to communicate more and better to do their jobs, and the adjustment in environment working from home actually created a preferred productivity setting for many people. Interesting stuff to think about for not just productivity, but welfare and stress management?

"What the debate over deacons gets wrong about Catholic women in leadership" by Pia de Solenni via America Magazine

Pope Francis' recent comments on the potential women's diaconate indicated that no change is on the near horizon, though the slow wheels of exploration will continue to turn. Meanwhile, this author argues that the Church shouldn't get too fixated on that element of women leadership alone. Citing her own role as a diocesan chancellor among her arguments, the author encourages a wider lens toward women taking on greater leadership in the Church, wanting to continue the pursuit of the diaconate while also emphasizing other areas where women can and should have a greater presence in leading our Church.

#TreatYoShelf: 05/23/19

by Dan Masterton

Lots of links. No time to waste. Already one day late!

"What We Too Often Forget About Helping People in Need" by Sophie Caldecott via Grotto Network

In working with young people -- and thinking back to my own experience -- it's hard to get them to go deeper with respect to how they approach service. They often respond by simply saying working with vulnerable people "opened their eyes" or made them "appreciate what they have." Those things are fine, but they miss a larger, deeper point. I always hope young people will find something more by connecting to the idea of solidarity and adopting an attitude of mutual, reciprocal encounter. This author captures that mindset by how she and her daughter realized that grace in some homeless neighbors. Beautiful read.

"Julián Castro Wants To Redefine Which Immigrants Have 'Merit'" by NPR Morning Edition

I've enjoyed what I've heard from Julian Castro so far this campaign season. With a slog of 23 candidates to pick through, it's tough to hear from everyone and learn each candidate's merits (or lack thereof). But I will say Castro's willingness to be bold and specific in addressing the injustices facing people in transit has been refreshing and welcome. Here's a small sampling of his approach that shows one positive way to start tackling these issues.

Additionally, this article in Fortune is a great deep dive on the issues of immigration, with special focus on the economic realities beneath the headlines. It is a break from partisan spin and really focuses on the facts and specifics of the current state of things.

"Novice? Regent? Scholastic? A guide to Jesuit formation (and lingo)" by Fr. James Martin SJ via America Magazine

Leave it to ole Fr. Jim to write the article I've always needed but never asked for. In my encounter with Jesuits and Ignatian circles, I've always tried to straighten out all the jargon around Jesuit formation, but I've never mastered it all. I still am not completely sure, but Jim's article creates a new one-stop shop for all of this. It still makes me laugh that a religious community so often associated with being more relaxed, less strict, and certainly less hierarchical and stodgy has such a complex web of vocabulary to describe its formation. 

"‘Everybody Wants a Revolution, but Nobody Wants to Do the Dishes’" by Dr. Susan Reynolds via The Atlantic

I'll admit, I didn't even read the original article that started this conversation. However, it obviously brought up important issues around clericalism and an exaggerated role of priests slash the diminished place for laity. Dr. Reynolds is both an increasingly well-known voice in American Catholicism and an old friend and choir buddy from college. She has a knack for drawing on her pastoral experience, her academic bona fides, and her life of faith to say things insightfully and accessibly. This is a great reflection on the classic both-and ideal of Catholicism. We need a robust clergy and a robust lay presence. We need priests who bring confident leadership skills as well as grounded pastoral sensibilities. We need lay people who look to priests for Sacramental leadership as well as to themselves for mobilizing parishioners, starting outreach, and sustaining parish life.

"I Was Racially Taunted on Television. Wasn’t I?" by Doug Glanville via NYTimes Opinion

I'm always interested in where sports can be relevant to this site, and this piece is a place where we can turn to think more deeply about the race relations issues in our country. Recently, a TV analyst for the Chicago Cubs was doing a live shot during a game; in the background, a fan was seen doing the upside-down "ok" symbol often known from the punching game, too. It has become a symbol for white supremacy, and the fan was identified and banned from Wrigley Field. In this piece, the insightful Doug Glanville reflects on his experience by describing the realities of being a person of color and what his (and others') thought process is like when facing such treatment. Doug is an outstanding analyst, a wonderfully thoughtful and intelligent human being, and a person who should never be treated with such disdain.

TRH on Prayer No. 2: The 'Yes' May Never Come

by Laura Flanagan

What does it mean to pray really hard for something to which you may not ever hear “yes”?

Does that mean you’re praying for the wrong thing? Not necessarily. There are infinite paths to sainthood. There are multiple ways to follow Christ. It’s okay to prefer one path and ask for it. You just may not be given it. What then?

Here, I decided to number the steps I’ve gone through so far in that process, this hashing out of things with God. It’s a particular struggle that a lot of people face, and face for far longer than I have. (Editor's Note: Here's a previous reflection on her family from Laura.)

1. Pray for another child in your family, and not receive what you asked for.
2. Pray, and not receive again.
3. Feel like your body isn’t done with this work, and express that to God.
4. Not receive again.
5. Realize that this disappointment may continue for a long time, or may continue forever - so how do you keep this from becoming a disappointment in God? Or too painful, where you lose hope?

I knew I had to balance this with the hope that such joy might be. Our Lord always wants us to have hope. But it certainly feels more like “getting my hopes up,” leading to more intense disappointment or sorrow.

Gratitude is the key there, I tell myself. If we do not expect specific good things, we are more grateful when they make their appearance. And if we are grateful for both expected and unexpected joys, we are less likely to expect specific ones.

5.1 Strongly resist any temptation to feel like God owes you this.

Related to the above - this feels like progress from #5, but really isn’t. I was pretty confident that I didn’t feel like God owed me a “yes” to this intention. “I’ll love you, regardless, Lord, sure.” But I did feel a little bit like he owes my daughter. That’s the tough part of intercessory prayer - prayer for others. You’re not asking for good things for yourself, but for others. You’re turned outward, as you should be, instead of inward, solely focused your own needs and wants. And yet the answer may not be yes to others’ wants either, no matter how deserving they are.

That “little bit” of feeling Clare’s owed a sibling is probably just about me. I’m resisting the seemingly more difficult path of forming a child who doesn’t have the gift of siblings. I am not perfect, so to be responsible for a third of the love and witness she’s supposed to receive from her immediately family certainly makes me think that it would be better to have more family members to love her. And maybe it would be better - but “good enough” is enough for the Lord to work with in her heart and soul.

6. Consider whether God is calling you to foster care.
7. Discern “no” on the foster care question, and be pretty sure that answer is not subconsciously yours because you selfishly don’t want to do it. You actually kind of do want to do it - but recognize that it would not be best for you, for your family... right now.
8. Start figuring out that the only profitable thing to ask for is “better conformity to the will of God,” since you were investigating the will of God with the foster care thing.

All prayer should have the caveat, implicit or explicit - "but not my will, but yours be done.” Then we also have to mean it. We do not know how to pray as we ought, we may not know if we're praying for the exact right thing, but if we're open, the Holy Spirit can intercede for us in the appropriate way, and make us willing to accept what God does intend to give.

It can be terribly hard to mean it. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak - and “flesh” here can be your emotions, your mental state. You may know what the peace-filled, surrendering-to-God attitude would be in a situation, but you just can’t quite muster it. Sometimes you’re just angry or upset that you don’t have what you want. Sometimes you do just feel like God should give it to you.

9. Still cry out to God every so often.

This has a great precedent in the Psalms, which everyone should read and pray. Jesus quoted Psalm 22’s “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” from the cross, after all. When you're just telling the Lord that you miss your daughter, or that you wish your family were larger, all that is is bringing him into that sorrow. You’re already feeling the sorrow, and He's already there anyway - you're just consciously letting Him in.

Samwise Gamgee, stalwart companion to the Ringbearer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, upon seeing the resurrected wizard Gandalf again, says, “Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?” An Easter morning statement if there ever was one.

Everything sad will come untrue, indeed. But that doesn’t always change that it’s sad now, and there’s no guilt or shame to be found in that. “My son was dead, and is alive again,” as the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son explains. The son had been "dead." The father had sorrowed over that. He had prayed that the son might return - but didn’t have control over whether he would. That control belonged elsewhere.

Even if the Father is God and not a human father, as the parable intends, God too has placed himself in that humble, uncontrolling position through his gift of human freedom. He both wants for us life in abundance, and cannot not always prevent ill - that gift and that consequence are partnered until the eschaton.

The first of the “Eleven Addresses to the Lord” by poet John Berryman begins with gratitude for the wonder of creation, then continues,

I have made up a morning prayer to you
containing with precision everything that most matters.
“According to Thy will” the thing begins.
It took me off & on two days. It does not aim at eloquence.

“According to Thy will” I must learn to begin, always.

I recommend reading the rest of the poem. Near the end of this address, he allows for the possibility of great miracles, in which he solidly believes. The examples are those times when the risen Lord appeared to Peter and Paul, but Berryman considers those miracles to be perhaps a “special case to establish their initiatory faith.”

Not all of us can receive the special case.

So we have to return to “Thy will be done,” or the succinct prayer of Dag Hammarskjöld: “For all that has been — Thanks. For all that shall be — Yes.”

TRH on Prayer No. 1: Intercessors & the Third Seat at the Table

by Dan Masterton

I remember in college overhearing bits of one of “those conversations,” one of those times someone had done a reading for class that tickled them just so, where a professor had made a comment that agitated them just right, where something about the intellectual gears of college were clicking to spur some big thinking. This friend was remarking to another person, “Did you realize that our prayer isn’t to change God’s mind but to help us change ours?” I wasn’t party to the rest of the conversation, but the essential question was enough to whet my appetite.

That sort of realization makes sense, as I think a natural way to conceptualize prayer, at least as one grows up and first learns their faith, is as a list of requests one makes of God. After memorizing my basic prayers as a little guy, the first insight on prayer I remember learning was from my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson, who prepared me for First Communion. She taught us that, after we received communion, it was good to follow up with prayer. Her recommendation was to “thank and ask” -- share one thing with God for which you’re grateful and ask God for think you need. In retrospect, some solid foundational prayer habits to teach eight-year-olds, let alone an adult!

Branching out a bit, theology and catechesis teach us that there’s four basic areas of prayer: praise of God, petition (what we need), intercession (what others need), and thanksgiving. Hopefully, as one’s faith life widens and deepens, one gets exposed to various mediums of prayer, too: sacred music, Taize prayer, centering prayer, contemplative prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharistic Adoration, interfaith and ecumenical prayer and prayer services, the Rosary and novenas, and so much more. But even as I grew up and enjoyed the diversity of prayer and liturgical formation, I still don’t think I evolved on my understanding of prayer’s underlying purposes until well after rolling all of these experiences into my spirituality.

One of the major takeaways from my brief foray into spiritual direction during college -- a few years after the aforementioned overheard conversation -- was a bit of a course correction on my attitude toward prayer. First of all, my spiritual director affirmed my desire to pray for loved ones and for their intentions, but he felt my desire to cover those areas so comprehensively was preempting me from going anywhere deeper in my prayer; he suggested that, at least sometimes, I simply take a deep breath and acknowledge that God knows all these intentions in my heart. There’s certainly value in naming these people and intentions, but acknowledging that I was spinning my wheels at times helped focus my prayer time more deeply. Secondly, he encouraged me to focus less on the outline or agenda I carried into prayer and more on making space. Rather than figuring out what I wanted to say to God, I needed to prioritize quieting myself to listen for what God wants to say to me.

These revisions to my prayer discipline helped emphasize the “thy will be done” element of prayer in a new way. Not only do my prayers need to be contextualized in the will of God, but I also need to remix my whole approach such that my priority becomes more specifically listening for what God’s will for me is. I am always struggling to keep this adjusted approach in mind and use it effectively, but the broader impact has stuck with me.

Previously, I came to God trying to share myself. God already knows me and my wants and needs. I almost imagine it like the difference between small-talk and a good, deep, heart-to-heart conversation. God is happy to see me and hear from me, but He doesn’t want to spend most of the time talking about the weather. God wants to shine His light deep into my heart and help me learn the innermost workings of who He made me to be. Not easy, but certainly appealing and inviting!

In my adult life, I’ve found myself gravitating more and more to the lives of the saints. I haven’t gained an encyclopedic knowledge of them or memorized too many feast days. Rather, I’ve organically found attraction and resonance with the witness of the martyrs and their connection to us as friends and intercessors.

While I don’t think we are all called to the crown of martyrdom, I think the essential nature of their lives is their witness. Their ultimate sacrifice of love in Christ came from their fundamental desire and decision to give themselves entirely to God and die to themselves. Saint Oscar Romero discarded his hesitations over stepping on toes and ruffling feathers and instead committed his whole influence and person to the needs of the Salvadoran campesinos, even as it invited inevitable retribution on his life; Saint Maximilian Kolbe held fast to his faith as a terminal prisoner in a concentration camp, diligently working, oversharing his rations with weaker prisoners, and ultimately offering his life for that of another in the ultimate act of charity; Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions clung to their budding faith even as their king became lustful, violent, and capricious, remaining faithful even as they were dragged to the flames of death; Saint Lucy and many other early female saints insisted on their chastity and spiritual prioritization of Christ above any arranged marriages or coercion to become wives to men; and the list can go on and on.

The communion of saints, as depicted in the tapestries at the Los Angeles Cathedral

While the stories around their deaths, their relics, and their miracles can certainly captivate, it’s the more mundane witness of their living that draws me in. In Oscar, I find a person who realized the need to stop making excuses and compromises that constrained his faith; in Maximilian, I find a person who wouldn’t discard his Christian hope in the face of any threat or mistreatment. It’s that all-encompassing centrality of faith that draws me to them and their intercession. The gritty realities of their life make them accessible, and the grand witness of their faith show us what is possible in ourselves.

So as I think about how prayer isn’t just us trying to ask God to do stuff for us, I imagine my intercessors less as errand-runners carrying messages to God. Instead, I’m growing to see them more as a third person in my conversation of prayer. As I contemplate my lack of patience with my daughter, my frustrations that I don’t have more time to do what I want, my struggles to juggle the various practical and social-emotional needs of my family, who better to join me in my prayer than my martyrs. Oscar, Max, and the bunch gave their lives as witness to the power our love gains when we humbly die to ourselves and live more fully in and for Christ. In prayer, I invite them and their witness close to me so that I can be palpably reminded me not only of the power of humility, of humbly being Christ’s love, but also of its very real and reachable feasibility.

#TreatYoShelf: 05/09/19

by Dan Masterton

This week, two deservedly noteworthy people in the world of Christian faith passed away...

Jean Vanier and Rachel Held Evans died this past week.

Jean Vanier

I recommend heading to L'Arche's official page for the scoop on this amazing guy. L'Arche is the organization he founded and built into a huge, international community. Their countercultural model of live-in companionship for people with various special needs prophetically insisted upon the dignity of all people and all life and created a mutual, reciprocal community rhythm for everyone involved. Jean was 90.

Rachel Held Evans

I have been reading Rachel for years, most notably when I took her Searching for Sunday on my honeymoon with me as beach reading. Her way of coupling earnest lived faith with a grounded, accessible desire to learn and share hearty theology was a blessing to everyone who reads her work. Rachel had become a mother in the last few years, and her husband and she welcomed their first two kiddos into the world. She died rather suddenly and unexpectedly after a hospital admission, allergic reactions, and complications escalated all within a month. She was just 37. I recommend reading Elizabeth Dias' NYTimes feature on Rachel to learn more about her.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

+ + +

"Francis: Women deacons commission gave split report on their role in early church" by Joshua J. McElwee via National Catholic Reporter

As sure as the sun rises in the east, Pope Francis will give an informal press conference on the flight back from his most recent international trip. In this case, Francis surprised us with an update on the study of a potential women's diaconate (dare I say, restoration of the diaconate?). Turns out, his study buddies couldn't agree on the historical roots in the Church, and now they've taken to studying their various theses to learn more about it. Translation? We haven't really gotten anywhere, so no one will be holding their breath on this one. From what I've learned over the years, it seemed the probable path to a potential women's diaconate would be a secondary form of Holy Orders, hopefully with a comparable scope of ministerial practice. Stay tuned for another decade or two? Ideally, it will come sooner.

"My Body, My Children's First Home" by Haley Stewart via CarrotsforMichaelmas.com

Haley with one of her four kiddos.

The spiritually of motherhood and pregnancy is beautiful and definitely something that will hopefully reach more and more moms in favor of pop pregnancy culture and fluffy blogs. Here, Haley celebrates how her children first lived within her as she nourished and carried them toward birth. The resonance between the physical touch of a mother and child with the intimate time of pregnancy term is beautifully unpacked in this post. It echoes what feels like a growing trove of motherhood and parenthood reflections, which sadly but necessarily must include the challenges of infertility, miscarriage, still birth, and complications and infant mortality. Tea with Tolkien Kaitlyn reflects regularly in her tweets about the grief of miscarriage; Leah Libresco beautifully and solemnly celebrated how her body could be a loving tomb for her child; Tim O'Malley long ago started a trajectory of reflections on infertility, adoption, and parenthood.

"Why are most Democrats not confronting Trump on immigration?" by Marcela Garcia via Boston Globe

Julian Castro is among the candidates that has caught my attention most in the early going. Among his intelligent, measured, and substantial platforms so far, he is going for the specifics on immigration, including decriminalizing the federal crime of illegal entry, reducing detention facilities and reorganizing ICE and the authorities governing immigration. More candidates need to address this head on, and whoever will gain the nomination and run opposite of Trump will need to present ideas that reflect justice, solidarity, and human dignity in a way that honors the traditions of America and its social values. (Side note: Julian is Catholic and not shy about it. I'm a fan of how Pete Buttigieg has brought faith into the conversation on the Democrat side, but I fear his momentum is making him prone to sound bytes. His recent comments suggesting God couldn't be a Republican aren't necessarily wrong but take this thread into a silly and pointless space that is unproductive.)

#TreatYoShelf: 05/02/19

by Dan Masterton

Another month brings another batch of sad news of violence, from the extremist terrorism in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka to yet another gunman shooting up a school in North Carolina. Now, as much as ever, is a time when the world needs the prophetic social teachings of the Church on the dignity of life, the earnest effort by people of faith to be good companions in person and in solidarity, and the worldwide network of relief and development work that the Church sustains. Modern society is often more and more adept at working across cultural and religious lines to collaborate in support of human need, and we need to continue building those partnerships and strive to preempt future tragedy.

Plenty of good stuff to get to reading this week...

"The Infinity Gauntlet Holds a Dead Saint’s Hand IRL" by Josh Noem via Grotto Network

Previously, I had seen some Catholic folks point out the stark similarities (pun intended) between the Infinity Gauntlet from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the relic of St. Teresa of Avila's hand. Here, this article offers a deeper dive into the potential connections between the comic illustrator who originally drew the item and the historical and contemporary events, including the distribution of Teresa's relics and the rise and fall of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Long story short, there's lots of overlap if not a conclusive connection!

"Promoting the Common Good and Option for the Poor in the Trump Era: An Interview with Stephen Schneck" by Robert Christian via Millennial Journal

This is a neat interview with a wonderfully intelligent and articulate Catholic in public life. Prof. Schneck has some great perspective on the potential dissonance and tension of Catholic social teaching and traditionally Democratic values. He helps unpack the centrality of prioritizing the poor, keeping solidarity and subsidiarity front of mind, and social justice a higher priority than any libertarian individualism streaks.

"Universal Health Care Might Cost You Less Than You Think" by Matt Bruenig via NYTimes Opinion

This is a great op-ed on health-care. Frequently these articles take on a political bent, arguing about how American or un-American things like socialized systems, universal mandates, and reduced free market choice might be. Instead, this article analyzes the going rates for employer-based premiums and frames them as a percentage withholding from total pay relative to the average wage. His article (and these additional charts via Twitter embedded below) shows how considering one's health-care premium contribution in the same bucket as taxes, social security, etc. demonstrates that the existing system places heavier burden on poor and working-class people while disproportionately benefitting rich people. It's a different but substantial way to engage the costs citizens carry to support their health-care and provides a fresher footing for considering the health-care debate.

Here is the US compared to other countries on this front. Average and below fare better in all of these countries and far way better in some. This comparison includes child tax benefits/credits. The US CTC and EITC is completely negated by giant family premium. pic.twitter.com/BVYS30rmFH

— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) April 29, 2019

"How Trump is able to exploit the abortion issue, and why that’s bad for everyone" by Sam Sawyer, SJ via America Magazine

The abortion debate is gearing up to be as divisive and wedged as ever. States are passing laws -- some that go to the extreme to uphold abortion and some that strive to further restrict abortion -- that are meant to spur court cases and pursue a Supreme Court hearing. To help keep a solid sense of the issues, grounded, deliberate articles that offer an honest brokerage and a humble perspective can help us make sense of things well are huge. This article offers some admissions of shortcomings on the side of pro-lifers, reasonable criticisms of the approach of those who advocate for choice, and incisive discussion of how Trump does more harm than good with his lies and brutish approach.

"Former Sen. Joe Donnelly's new initiative: Teach Democrats to value rural voters" by Tony Cook via Indy Star

Sen. Donnelly was a casualty of the 2018 midterms. While Democrats won new seats all over the House, the Senate was a different story. Red states booted their blue Senators by a decent margin, and the homogenization of the parties continued with folks like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) as some of the last exceptions. To try to help Democrats avoid defeats like this in the future, two of these ousted Senators are trying to use leftover campaign funds to help fellow politicians learn how to connect with rural voters and run a more inclusive campaign. Personally, I find people who run against the common lean of their party help create diversity of opinion and foster discussion around tough issues, so it'd be great to see a resurgence in moderate Senators from both parties, or even folks who ideologically lean opposite to much of their caucus.

"Drowning In Parenting Advice? Here's Some Advice For That" by Selena Simmons-Duffin via NPR All Things Considered

Let me tell you -- when pregnancy comes, so does a ton of unsolicited advice, unfounded advice, and pop culture advice. We fell victim to the "we'll buy the What to Expect When You're Expecting" book as a knee-jerk reaction; it's not bad, but it's written in a cheeky sort of way that doesn't feel totally sound. Luckily, a health-care provider recommended the Mayo Clinic books to us, and their installments on pregnancy and baby's first year were our go-to resources. Needless to say, the quantity of resources is crazy. This article/clip is an interview with an author who has sought to comb through all these studies and ideas out there and try to provide a curated set of advice that simplifies the stress.