A Year On Grace Street

Traveling on Grace Street The most important lesson I have learned in the fifty years I have spent working toward the building of a better world is that the true work of social transformation starts within. It begins inside your own heart and mind. Thus, to truly revolutionize our society, we must first revolutionize ourselves. Its been a long journey, all the way from stepping off a cotton farm in Alabama to the epicenter of the struggle for civil rights in America. Some days when I go to my office in the early morning and look out over the great monuments beyond the Capitol, I think, How could this be? How could a poor boy from Alabama have lived such a life? I tell you, it has been the grace of God. Jeff Blake, a brother from Alabama, has written the story of grace in his own journey, and I am pleased to commend his Traveling on Grace Street to you. He too has been in the struggle. He too has kept his eye on the prize. John Lewis United States Congressman Atlanta, Georgia

Grace Street is about children growing up in a Lebanese neighborhood in Michigan City, Indiana, during the 1950s. Children in that era were safe to walk city streets and explore parks and wooded areas. Racial prejudice was rampant, and most families had stay-at-home mothers. The South Shore Railroad was in its heyday and Washington Park was a popular recreation area. With a healthy dose of humor tempered with a pinch of pathos and a sprinkling of irony, Grace Street touches on old-world beliefs and customs while telling the story of siblings and cousins who grew up in a sometimes confusing ethnic environment. This close-knit family had a few secrets, including an alcoholic uncle and a grandmother who was nearly deported, but the parents rarely spoke of these matters, especially to the children.

Praise for More Travels on Grace Street: “Jeff Blake strikes me as one of the most persistent and discerning seekers—after experience, knowledge, beauty, integrity, love, and grace—whom I have ever known, and his writings about travel, history, poetry, race relations, family, and faith resonate with all of the qualities that one would expect of a committed lifelong seeker. I have recommended Traveling on Grace Street to many people as Blake’s bona fide gift to the world, which he returns to it out of both love and gratitude, and More Travels on Grace Street derives from the same uplifting wellsprings. I recommend it just as heartily as I continue to do his earlier book.” —Michael Bishop, author of Ancient of Days and Who Made Stevie Crye?, Pine Mountain, Georgia “Nobody will ever show you what grace actually looks like better than Jeff Blake, who continues his travels on Grace Street with this excellent volume. He is a genius about grace. The grace of God. The grace that carries us through the rough patches of life. The grace of sacred places. The grace of ordinary life. He is my teacher.” —Joanna Adams, minister, Presbyterian Church (USA), Atlanta, Georgia “I got to know Jeff Blake through his writings and our occasional bird-watching. In fact, I have followed his words for at least ten years. We share a common passion for nature, including Texas wildflowers. I’ve read with interest of his encounters with poets and writers and other interesting folks. I have observed his journey through various trials, which are common to all of us, and count him as a friend. Jeff’s reflections on the meaning of grace interest me and make for good reading.” —Robert Nunnally, attorney, Allen, Texas “Jeff Blake invites and guides on a journey of grace. With courage, vulnerability, and strength, his full and open heart lights the thread that connects. We are held, embraced, enticed into stepping more fully, lovingly, and deeply into and onto our own sacred path. Jeff opens doors as he leads us through a garden of possibility. His words ring with support. We enclose in the intimacy of tenderness as compassion and grace guide knowing and faith.” —Cathy Edgett, author of Breast Strokes: Two Friends Journal through the Unexpected Gifts of Cancer and Love Letters: To My Daughters-in-Law, Mill Valley, California

A spiritual practice for serious-minded (but busy) people. Everyone needs renewal, even the most committed among us. The spiritual life requires regular practice and a bit of time. Coming Alive: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Renewal offers five brief meditations each week for focused reading, reflection, and prayer. Each entry centers on a passage of scripture or spiritual writing. The meditations are deep, insightful, and beautifully simple, as readers have come to expect from Steve Harper’s writing. This timeless book offers a gently challenging daily habit, which leads to renewal of spirit and mind. Coming Alive features - Brief readings, about 10 minutes per day - Undated readings, so readers can determine their own pattern of practice - Spiritual depth and wisdom from ancient and contemporary sources - Foreword by Brian McLaren From the Foreword: “Steve Harper's new book beautifully focuses in on the real core of the spiritual life: Not dogma, not rules and regulations, not duties or guilt, not pressure or obligation ... but life, life to the full, what I like to call aliveness.” --Brian McLaren

Genealogy of Willey, McClaren, McLendon, Hutchinson, and others. Family history and memoirs of Ron Willey (Jr.)