A Moving Memoir

Adding My First Memoir to My Lending Library

I’ve just added my first memoir to my bookcase and what a heart-stirring introduction to the genre it turned out to be.

As my new colleague, ChatGPT, explains:
A memoir is a form of nonfiction where the author reflects on personal experiences and memories, typically focusing on specific events, themes, or periods in their life—rather than recounting their entire life story, as an autobiography does.

That definition came to life for me through The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse by Vinh Nguyen, released on April 8, 2025, ahead of the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

Nguyen was one of the many Vietnamese “boat people”, refugees who fled the country by sea after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Alongside his mother and siblings, he escaped in a crowded boat, part of the mass exodus of those seeking safety and freedom across dangerous waters. His father fled separately and then vanished without a trace. The memoir traces not only Vinh’s harrowing escape but also the emotional terrain of absence, longing, and inherited memory.

The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse contains all the key features of a memoir: it’s written from Vinh’s perspective, it focuses on his memories and reflections, and it shows, often through dialogue, how personal experiences shape an individual, through offering lessons and insights.

Nguyen himself describes the memoir in this way: “It begins with memory and it moves forward. As it moves forward, it hits the limits of memory. And so increasingly, the book becomes speculative. I moved towards thinking about what could have been—what did I want to have happened?”

I discovered The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse through the Amnesty Book Club, which featured it in celebration of World Refugee Day on June 20th.

Amnesty also hosted an online interview with Vinh Nguyen offering listeners a thoughtful, vulnerable conversation that adds even more depth to the memoir’s reading experience. With Amnesty’s permission, I’m sharing the link to the recorded interview with Vinh Nguyen here.

If you’ve ever wondered how personal memory and historical events intersect on the page, this memoir is a beautiful, poignant place to start.

P.S. For those interested here is the link to join the Amnesty Bookclub.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

image: Nathan Dumlao/unsplash

School’s Out, Summer’s In!

YAY! We Made it!

The last week of June brings cause for many celebrations of school year endings, with mixtures of sadness and relief. In Ontario, the last day of classes for the 2024-2025 school year is June 25, 2025, for secondary students and June 26, 2025 for elementary students.

This is also a time when Indigenous communities celebrate Summer Solstice with Pow Wows.

Recently I had the privilege of attending a pow wow in which young people especially were encouraged to “strut their stuff” in song, drumming and tribal dances.  The host of the event kept saying” here we have the leaders of the future in their regalia who will carry our ways into a new World.” 

I sincerely believe that the Indigenous peoples will show us not only the importance of treating everything in a good way but can and will be our partners in showing us how to create a better world.

Yes, there are various graduation speeches delivered:

Grade 8 graduations typically celebrate student achievements and offer encouragement for the future. They often thank teachers and families, acknowledge the journey through middle school, and look forward to the new chapter of high school. Inspirational themes might include overcoming obstacles, the importance of friendship, and the value of individual growth. 

The high school graduation has its special characteristics of becoming leaders for the future.  It is time to move forward, keeping our relationships, inspiring each other.  “WE ARE READY” is the theme of hope and determination to create a better world.  This particular graduation address went viral:

If you barely made it through high school, these quotes are for you:

• “High school was easy. It was like riding a bike. Except the bike was on fire & I was in hell.”

• “Somehow I managed not to burn down the school or myself – Success!”

• “Well, I made it through high school… with minimal casualties.

• “They said ‘reach for the stars,’ but I’m just happy I reached graduation.”

•    “To all the teachers who said I’d never amount to anything: surprise!”

• “I may not have been at the top of my class, but hey, I made it to the finish line!”

• “Here’s to the classmates who made it interesting, the teachers who made it bearable, and the cafeteria food that made it memorable.

• “They said ‘the early bird catches the worm,’ but I prefer the ‘last-minute cramming catches the diploma’ approach.”

• “To all the late nights, early mornings, and countless cups of coffee: thanks for getting me through high school… barely.”

• “I survived high school like a pro: with a mix of luck, caffeine, and sheer determination.”“Here’s to the friends who stuck by me, the teachers who believed in me, and the cafeteria cookies that sustained me.”

"You will never have more energy or enthusiasm, hair, or brain cells than you have today." 46 Funny Graduation Quotes to Share.

In this your journey of LIFE, what would be your comment  as you graduate from one stage and move to the next?

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, csj

Remembering Walter Brueggemann

In Memoriam of Gustavo Gutierrrez and Walter Brueggemann - Part 2

Walter Brueggemann: A Prophet for our Time

Hear the word of the Lord…

For the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or loyalty,

And no knowledge of God in the land.

Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out.

Bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Therefore, the land mourns, and all who live in it languish:

Together with the wild animals and the birds of the air,

Even the fish of the sea are perishing.

                                                                           (Hosea 4:1-3)

Hosea’s lament is stunningly resonant today. Renowned Scripture scholar, beloved teacher and regular preacher in United Church of Christ communities, Walter Brueggemann devoted his scholarly career and his life to pointing that out and drawing the necessary challenging conclusions for faith communities. Like the ancient prophets, he called us to fidelity to our call in a contemporary satiated consumer culture, to fidelity to the word of God, to a God of justice and righteousness, of steadfast love, of compassion and mercy. What does fidelity to God and the covenantal demands require of us today? An answer was his gift to us.

Walter Brueggemann’s was not interested in detailed textual analysis alone. Woe betides students who failed to make the required move to interpret the current social reality in light of their textual analysis, fine as it might be. Gone was the prized “A”!

A short blog does not do justice to the lasting contribution of Walter Brueggemann. Let me simply offer a sense of his main argument in his own words. The Prophetic Imagination, one of Brueggemann’s early and best-known books, envisions an alternative prophetic community whose task is both to criticize and energize:

“On the one hand, it is to show that the dominant consciousness (which I have termed “royal”) will indeed end and that it has no final claim upon us. On the other hand, it is the task of the alternative prophetic community to present an alternative consciousness that can energize the community to fresh forms of faithfulness and vitality…. It is the task of prophetic imagination and ministry to bring people to engage the promise of newness that is at work in our history with God.” 62

At great cost to themselves, the prophets of old preached fidelity to the word of God. Throughout a lifetime of exploring ever more deeply the implications of their message, Walter Brueggemann has left us a blueprint for a communal response. May he rest in peace.

-Sister Joyce Murray, csj

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An article from On Being with Krista Tippett:

Walter Brueggemann, In Memoriam — When the World We Have Trusted In Is Vanishing

Image: Héctor J. Rivas/Unsplash