See and Hear Reconciliation
Twenty years after Rwanda’s genocide, healing is still a work in progress. Photographer Pieter Hugo traveled there to photograph unlikely pairs: the perpetrators and victims of violent crimes, who, through a Catholic non-profit, have reconciled. Dominique Ndahimana describes the power of his victim’s forgiveness: “I had lost my humanity because of the crime I committed, but now I am like any human being.” These stories reveal the blessings that often lie beyond forgiveness: friendship and redemptive service. On that note, give this story of a Minneapolis mother and her son’s murderer a listen as well.
True Colors
Two animals made headlines recently for their unusual hues. First, a rare black flamingo, spotted in Cyprus. The Guardian reports the color is likely caused by a “genetic condition known as melanism, which causes it to generate more of the pigment melanin.” (Black panthers are black for the same reason; there are pseudo-melanistic tigers, but if you’ve seen those photos of a black lion, they’re fake. Sorry.) Meanwhile, a rare pink dolphin was discovered in Taiji, Japan. Now residing at the Taiji Whale Museum, Angel is the world’s only albino dolphin in captivity. For what it’s worth, Amazon river dolphins are often pink.
In Which We Recommend an Entire Blog
Meet Colossal, the blog that gives one the feeling of perusing a modern art museum. A few posts a day about visual culture. We won’t say much more about its merits, but don’t miss the section on churches.
For the Love of Poetry
We’ve previously shared the poetry of Ted Kooser. In Books & Culture, Tania Runyan points to his remarkably imaginative way of seeing everyday scenes—a very Christian worldview, we’d say. If you, like us, are fanatic about poetry, you might check out Runyan’s How to Read a Poem, and the classic Billy Collins poem it’s based on, “Introduction to Poetry.”
