The following article ran in one of my local papers: The Lovely County Citizen. The writer, Jennifer Jackson, came out to the house and spent quite a while asking questions and put together a nice piece. I had hoped they would make it a live link at some point so I could share it that way, but scanned jpg files are just going to have to work instead.
As I watch all the beautiful news footage in memory of Nelson Mandela, I have thought many times about sitting in the lounge at Alma College in 2004, talking to the then Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane. He possessed that same aura of dignity and grace and faith in the face of life’s challenges that millions have found so intriguing in his countryman Mandela, so I thought I would repost my interview with him from the now-closed website www.spirituality.com.
A life of service to God: The Archbishop of Cape Town
“All of life is lived in response to God’s call to us,” says Njongonkulu Ndungane, Angelican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, in a talk at Alma College, Michigan, in September 2004. He believes that God’s call is “one of unimaginable love and generosity, and in responding to His call, we realize that our destinies lie in His hands.” He continued, “In humility we realize we can do no better than to walk in His ways.”
Humility is certainly an appropriate term for Archbishop Ndugane, who jokes that the position of archbishop is not what he thought he would be doing with his life. In fact, after his 1996 appointment, when a phone call came in for “the Archbishop,” Ndungane would almost go off to find him–forgetting that was now his title. But to call someone “Your Grace” has never seemed more fitting. As he spoke about his life to the group at Alma College, and later as I talked to him alone in a quiet moment, it was clear Ndungane embodies a life focused on doing God’s work with dignity and peace.
Growing up in the heart of apartheid South Africa, Ndungane was one of six children in a family that struggled on the fringes of poverty. And although something was wrong, he didn’t have a clear grasp of the injustices of the legislation at the center of apartheid that restricted the freedom of black citizens. Then one day in 1960, he heard Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, leader of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) of Azania, speaking at a political rally. It changed his life forever.
Describing the event to the college group, Ndungane said, “My imagination was caught, my conscious aroused. I felt I had to stand up and be counted in the struggle for what I believed was right.” He became a political activist, but in 1963 was arrested for his involvement with the PAC and sentenced to three years in the infamous prison on Robben Island. It was there, in what he calls “hellish conditions,” that Ndungane discovered his personal relationship with God and experienced his call to serve in the priesthood.
“I was wrestling with God,” he told me. “And in the moments of wrestling with God in different circumstances, there comes a time when you suddenly have a peace of mind and you say that’s it. End of wrestling. I found inner peace, as if God had laid His hand on me.”
In the 1970s, after his release, Ndungane became an ordained priest and later traveled to England to study theology at King’s College London. While there, he experienced racial equality for the first time in his life. He was treated with dignity and respect and had the freedom to go where he wanted. When his studies were over, he was offered a parish in England. But he and his wife felt God was calling them to return to South Africa and support their country in the struggle out of apartheid.
“I must confess that we found the offer very tempting indeed as we were enjoying being treated like human beings,” he writes in his book, A World with a Human Face: A Voice from Africa. “We loathed the thought of going back to oppression, when we had attained freedom, appreciation and acceptance of our true humanity.”
In the end they were happy with their decision, realizing God would sustain them through the challenges ahead. But that doesn’t mean it was easy. “It was like taking a bear that has been free and putting him back into a cage,” he told the Alma College gathering.
Socially and politically, 1979 was a traumatic year for South Africa. After two students were shot in front of his church, Ndungane was responsible for the funeral service–attended by 10,000 angry young men. He was very frightened, but felt God was in control of the situation and led him to maintain peace. While the time of violence is past, South Africa still has a long way to go. Ndungane sees the role of the church as vital in helping to overcome the challenges. “Basically, it’s the recovery of our humanity,” he told me. “The whole question is of our understanding who we are and whose we are–that each one of us is created in God’s image with intrinsic worth and dignity and therefore meriting respect.”
When he prays for South Africa, the Archbishop told me that he begins with praise. “Praise to God–who in His mercies has been with us, is with us, and promises to be with us all the time. Every time I say my prayers, I thank God for what is to come in the assurance that He’ll show me the way. Whatever danger I’m in, He’ll be there as a shield. He is the God who takes me each step of the way, even if I may not know where I’m going.”
Ndungane describes God as a presence in us. “The books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, try to give us a picture of God–a God who cares, a God of compassion, a God whose love is of such a nature that it’s not asking what is in it for me. I describe God as God-the-Father in whom I anchor my life and God-the-Mother in whose arms I’m secure. That’s the kind of God I’ve experienced.”
In closing his speech at Alma College, Archbishop Ndungane shared this inspiring and comforting thought: “When life is tough–when it is hard to see the way ahead–remember that our God still calls us, and still speaks the same words that he did to Joshua–‘Be strong! Stand firm! Be fearless and undaunted, for, go where you may, Yahweh you God goes with you!'”
From www.spirituality.com, November, 2004
copyright by Meg Welch Dendler
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Today is Celebrate Shelter Pets Day, and we here at the Dendler house are certainly grateful for our family of rescued pets. Kimba and Hiro were found in a box when they were only a day or two old, so they never got as far as a shelter, but they were rescued all the same. Samantha and Tabitha (aka Miss Fatty Cat and Slinky) were rescued through Noah’s Ark no-kill shelter in Cypress, TX, when they were a few months old. Max (aka The Big Black Beast) was also rescued from a no-kill shelter that I don’t even remember the name of now when he was a year old. Even Buddy came to us out of the woods behind a house in Livonia, MI, and was with us for many years.
Adopting or buying a new pet is always a risk. You never quite know what you are going to get, so why not take that chance on a shelter pet who desperately needs to be given a home. Send your money and your love to a shelter near you today!
Follow Shelter Pets Day at Facebook or at #celebrateshelterpets on twitter. Shelter pets rule!
I don’t “review” books in general, but when I read one that is worth telling everyone about I’m happy to give a shout-out. “The Living” by Matt de la Pena is most definitely one of those books. It is probably worth mentioning that I am not the target audience for this book, and it is not the type of book I normally choose to read. Matt sold me on himself, as a person, first, and that intrigued me to read something he wrote.
I ran across Matt de la Pena for the first time at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Missouri a few weeks ago. He was one of the keynote speakers. I had a manuscript critique scheduled at the same time (with his editor, interestingly enough), so I missed the first half of the talk. When I came back into the conference room, the whole place was laughing and fully engaged. That’s something unusual to find after the long morning they had already been through and right after lunch. It didn’t take me long to figure out why they were so entertained. He was interesting to listen to and told his stories in a delightful and humorous way. I knew I would have to check out his books right away.
The first few books Matt has written are YA stories focused on inner-city and low income kids facing challenges in their own communities. I love the fact that those books are out there, but I wasn’t sure how much I could connect with them–being near 50 and about as WASPy as one can get. But his new book, “The Living,” stepped outside of that and put his characters in a world I could relate to. Some of the language and phrasing threw me off a bit at first, but I got used to it quickly and just got lost in the story. It’s hard to say much of anything without giving away the fun of being shocked by events as they unfold. Let’s just say that I’m already terrified of cruise ships, and this story basically confirmed all my worst nightmares about what would happen if I ever set foot on one (except the part where I have to decide which of my daughters to save). The main character, Shy, is on edge and put through the wringer with literally end-of-the-world events and conspiracies. I anticipated some of the problems before they were revealed (not that this is a bad thing, to feel a step ahead of the characters), but I’m not so sure a YA audience would see some of it coming. Super fun!
I loved this book from beginning to end. Well, almost. I was highly disappointed in the ending because it didn’t actually end! And that’s the way any good writer should leave you feeling when there is another book to come. There’s a writer’s joke that you should chase your main character up a tree and then throw rocks at him for a while before you let him down. Poor Shy spends pretty much all of the story up that proverbial tree with huge boulders being flung at him. At the end, he’s up a different tree and you can only imagine that there are cannons aimed in his direction. I can’t wait to see how it all works out! The sequel, “The Hunted,” comes out until the fall of 2014.
What has been really fun is to tweet with Matt de la Pena along the way. Every time I have tweeted something about it, he has been quick to respond. That made the journey even more fun (@mattdelapena). I even have a new word (blanquita) to impress my daughter’s Venezuelan boyfriend at Thanksgiving. They never taught me that one in high school Spanish. Maybe he can explain the deep meaning of “Sancho” to me as well.
I highly recommend this book for YA readers, especially boys who have limited choices that don’t involve vampires or blood and guts. There is just enough boy/girl stuff to keep it interesting, but not so much that you couldn’t have it available in a classroom or school library.
Click here for the link to read about and purchase “The Living at amazon.com.
Click here to find out more about Matt de la Pena and his books. His web site is mattdelapena.com.
The last official stop on my fall blog tour is a book review for “Why Kimba Saved The World” at the blog of Erik The Great: This Kid Reviews Books. Follow this link to his nice review of “Kimba.” I love it when a review comes from a reader who is closer to the actual intended target audience of my middle grade books. Adult reviewers sometimes over-think the process. Kids will just tell you whether or not they liked it. In the end, that’s what it’s all about.
Erik’s blog is full of delightful reviews and commentaries on the books he has enjoyed. He has very mature taste for an 11 year old, so I’m glad he could still enjoy the simplicity of my book. I’m happy to be including him in my blogroll so visitors to my site can find his as well.
Erik says of “Kimba”: “The story is written very well and is appropriate for all ages. Ms. Dendler does a great job of getting the reader into the cat’s minds.”
I sometimes worry about how much time I spend trying to figure out Kimba’s thoughts, but at least it paid off for my books. She is sitting outside my office door right now, and I have no idea what she is plotting. A good bath and a nap are probably all she has on the agenda, but you never can tell with cats.
I hope you will visit the sites of all of the bloggers who were kind enough to do interviews and book reviews of either “Why Kimba Saved The World” or “Vacation Hiro” (or both!) as part of this Fall Blog Tour. There will be a few more reviews along the way with others who have not set firm dates, and I will keep sharing them!
Kimba, plotting something
The blog tour continues today with a book review of “Why Kimba Saved The World” at Say What Savannah Mae’s blog. Click here to see the whole review.
Here’s a quick portion of the review, but go to Savannah’s blog to read the whole thing:
“In this charming tale, it is a cat’s perspective of life and loyalty. Peeking into the thoughts of why cats do what they do. Some of the things that Kimba was instructed to do for her missions made me giggle and look at my own kitty and imagine that yes, this indeed could make sense.”
The official book launch is only a few hours away!! As part of the blog tour, two new book reviews for “Vacation Hiro” posted today.
The first review is from Found Between The Covers, and I’m thrilled that Sherrey enjoyed Book 2 even more than Book 1. Click here to see the whole review at her blog, but here’s my favorite part:
“When I finished reading and reviewing Why Kimba Saved the World, I couldn’t imagine Meg Dendler surpassing that story or the personification of the animals in her first book in the Cats in the Mirror Series. I. Was. Wrong!”
Thanks, Sherrey!
The second review is from The Styling Librarian, who also thoroughly enjoyed it and recommends the series to her readers. Yay! Thanks, Debbie! Click here to see the whole review all the way from Hong Kong.
Be sure to visit both of their sites and follow them on twitter and Facebook. I’ve loved following them myself.
“Vacation Hiro” hits the world Friday morning!! Watch out world!
Book 2 in the Cats in the Mirror Series
One special part of my blog tour was to do an author interview with award-winning writer Missy Frye for her web site. Missy and I had connected on twitter, but we had the chance to meet and chat at the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference in October here in Eureka Springs. I love the fact that Missy asked me very specific questions about my writing life and journey (usually you just get a set of pre-fab questions). Follow this link to read the whole interview.
Here’s her fun final question:
MF: If you could jump into a book, and live in that world … which would it be?
MWD: “The Dragonriders of Pern,” without question. I’ve been reading Anne McCaffrey’s books since I was 10. I love that world and her dragons and fire lizards and heroes. I can’t believe they have not pulled off making a movie out of the first books. I have a stuffed gold dragon “Ramoth” that keeps me company when I write. Kimba has pulled it behind my computer monitor to sleep with her these days, but I know she’s there. Together, they inspire me.
Kimba with Ramoth and many others in her nest behind my monitor. I never know who she’ll drag back there.
What a great beginning for an exciting week!! The very first book review for “Vacation Hiro” was posted today by the Arkansas Book Reviewer, and she gave it 5 stars. That’s a great way to get things going! Please click here to read the whole review at her site, and be sure to click on the social media share links at the bottom and leave a comment for her. I loved the way she ended it: “Best of all, Vacation Hiro ends with a cliffhanger that’ll have you clawing for the next book!” Love it! Nothing like a 5 star review to start of a book launch week with a bang!
Official launch day is Friday, November 15. Getting all of my ducks and links in a row and ready to share with you.
Book 2 in the Cats in the Mirror Series
Newest stop on the Fall Blog Tour is Jenn’s Book Review Blog and her thoughts on “Why Kimba Saved The World.” I love that her son was in on the reviewing process. It can be hard for adults to judge a book designed for kids. I’ve gotten some really odd reviews from some who have. So I always get extra excited when the reviewer is a teacher used to reading kid lit or an actual child — and super-duper excited when they enjoy it. Yay! Here’s the link to Jenn’s review, but my favorite part of the review was this:
“The characters of Kimba and Hiro were adorable and we fell in love with them quickly. We give Kimba a 5/5!”
It doesn’t get much better than that!
Unless someone I’m not expecting jumps into the schedule, and that may well happen, the next stop on the blog tour will be the very first review of “Vacation Hiro” from the Arkansas Book Reviewer. On pins and needles!