Resource Review: Sparking Peace
Last week, I shared about some ways that I am seeking to practice cheeky and compassionate creativity in response to the darkness of our world. Today, I’d like to share about a book (and more the people behind the book) who give us a glimpse of ways we can physically embody God’s kingdom on earth.
I had the privilege of leading art exercises for the new group of the Shepherd’s Tree Cohort, a project of The Soil and the Seed Project I had taken part in last year that provides support to folks who are ministering intergenerationally in faith communities. One of the participants this time is Hannah Rose Martin, one of the authors of this book (and partner to one of the real-life blacksmiths who do prophetic work).
Hannah is luminous and empathetic, and I wish all of our community here could meet her. Her own story is poignant, a real testament to staying and leading in church systems that were places of hurt. Her lived expressions of faith through pastoring, parenting, working as a reading specialist, and caring for immigrant neighbors all inspired and encouraged me. I didn’t know until part way through the retreat time that she was one of the authors of the book Sparking Peace, the children’s book that was released as part of the Anabaptism at 500 resources with MennoMedia. She had an extra copy in her suitcase (she flew all the way from Colorado to be part of the cohort!), and we’ve been enjoying it in our home this week before bringing it to the IMC library.
The book is gorgeously illustrated by Gabhor Utomo, an Indonesian illustrator from Portland, Oregon. The watercolors are warm and intimate, the characters are diverse, and there are details from the lives of the real Miss Winifred (the character who lost a son to gun violence) and others like her that honor their stories.
The other author with Hannah is Rev. Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, a Korean-American minister, author, mother and chaplain. Her first picture book, Mother God is another gorgeous resource to review another day!
The simplest way to summarize the book is from the publisher’s description: “After breaking a neighbor’s window, a young child discovers friendship, transformation, and new beginnings in an unlikely story of peace. Gentle and moving, this poetic tale offers readers a hopeful path in the face of gun violence and despair, showing kids how peacemaking can turn conflict into friendship and new beginnings—and forge guns into garden tools.”
The story shares both the development of the friendship between the child and Miss Winifred and the experience of attending a community blacksmithing event where a weapon is turned into a garden tool.
The details are intentionally left vague, which does help for sharing with a wider range of ages and allows it to apply to multiple situations of violence. For example, a newspaper reads “Community Response Event,” and the metal in the forge is explained as “something sad, something that breaks our hearts.” Miss Winifred cries while she hammers the metal but there isn’t explanation further than that.
For my perceptive children, this caused a little anxiety when they read the book on their own. They wanted to know more details and their shoulders actually lowered in tension when I explained some of the real story behind Miss Winifred as someone who lost a son to gang-related gun violence and that the metal in the forge was a gun. Every child is different, but it’s worth noting that some may want a brief description of what’s being alluded to before the story is told.
The overall tone is poetic and hopeful, and there is a sense of healing/newness as the story draws to a close.
As a parent, educator, and church leader, I appreciated the discussion guide and ways to talk about gun violence with children in the end of the book. Again, some of the more open-ended wonder questions could make some types of kids uncomfortable with imagining, so the “be direct” tip may be more what your child or community needs!
I think the thing I like best about Sparking Peace, is the introduction it provides to RAWtools, Inc. As a parent and a poet, I find myself searching for images that awaken my imagination to new possibilities in a war and violence-torn world.
RAWtools, through their trainings, their resources, their community events, and their actual, physical transformation of tools of destruction does just that.
With physical locations in Philadelphia, Colorado Springs, and Ashville, RAWtools accepts gun donations and forges garden implements, jewelry, sculptures and more. There are gatherings for disarming, trainings on peacemaking, protests of violent ends, resources for inner and community healing for the root causes of violence.
I think as our children grow, we need more and more tangible examples of the kingdom of God in action in countercultural, communal, creative, prophetic and ingenious ways.
Sparking Peace and the people behind the pages can spark conversations that engage our family and community imaginations. I’m excited that Anabaptist churches (and beyond) have access to a compelling, beautiful place to start.
