muvoiceswinter2018

Spring flower by Linette Popoff-Parks It's been a seemingly endless winter, with snow and ice taunting us well into April. But we're finally getting season-appropriate weather, and no one's complaining. We see students come to class in shorts, people pull out lighter jackets, buds take shape on tree branches, and many of us feel a touch of hope in the air. You'll also find a touch of hope in the contributions to this winter 2018 issue of MU Voices. Jesse Cox finds God's home in his grandmother's kitchen; Jayson Grayson writes about a life-changing book; Angelica Rivera tells a ghost story driven by love; Joshua Johnson shares his incredible drawings; Jackie Pruitt shares words of wisdom; and Matt Murphy suggests a solution to gun violence in schools. Photos from MLK Week and the Detroit March for our Lives shows Madonna's commitment to the greater community. Barbara Glover's stories reveal the potential of cooperation and new beginnings. ...

Now I realize in these years after her death, that my grandmother’s homemade rolls were the body of Christ. The iced tea she served in large green bubble glasses was Christ’s Blood. Our conversation, our laughter, her advice and inquires are the Eucharistic Prayer. And the ritual of everyday eating is transformed into a sacramental moment. The smells from her kitchen rise like incense to heaven. And as the smoke clears, an ordinary kitchen becomes a majestic cathedral, where Christ sits with us and leads us in grace before our simple meal.

It was a wintry Wednesday afternoon in Detroit. The city was covered in the purest white snow. Ice sickles had begun to form on my porch, and kids were rejoicing about school being closed. I sat silently looking out my window as snow continued to fall, and my neighbors, young and old, attempted to shovel their drive and walk ways. It had been snowing for a while as I observed that there were no tire tracks in the street; no one even attempted to drive in the wintry conditions.  Completely lost in trance, I couldn’t help but  think my mind was trying to shift focus on the weather because of all the things that were stressing me out and causing major anxiety. I was going through many changes in my life. Some changes I was open to, like being newly single. On the other hand, I was reluctant to accept the fact that I had also lost my job and had no way to pay my phone bill and car insurance. I'd never been this down on my luck before. Hardship is something I'm familiar wit...

I enjoy campfires, especially when my friends and I tell spooky stories. One night, my friends and I were gathered around the campfire, and it was my turn to share a scary story. I quickly remembered a story Grandma once shared with me. I thought to myself that if this story had scared the wits out of me, it would also scare my friends. However, my scary story was not only a horror story, but there was a romantic twist to it, almost like Romeo and Juliet (love vs. paranormal). I began the story by sharing that these spirits watched over a girl named Sarah. They were called “legion.” What I mean by “legion” is that they came by the thousands. Some of them were there to watch her every doing and another part were there to destroy her. Dove, a good friend of Sarah’s since high school, sensed she was in trouble. Dove was already aware that Sarah had had a very bad breakup and that her ex-boyfriend (Erik) belonged to a family of witches. Although Sarah did not believe in spells or...