April 24, 2023
A NEW SERIES OF MESSAGES:
SaintsforSinners News and Views.
Itās exciting to announce that this Wednesday, April 26, 2023, Rob will be on a Live TV Program with the Award Winning Host, Misti Gaither. Rob will be promoting the April 27, 2023 OFFICIAL RELEASE of our first Proust Picture Book, available for sale at Forever New Orleans (608 Royal Street) and WHATS NEW (824 Decatur Street) located in the heart of the New Orleans French Quarter and steps away from the beautiful Saint Louis Cathedral and CafĆ© Du Monde.
THE LIVE PROGRAM will air from āChef Ronās Gumbo Stop Shopā at 2309 N. Causeway Boulevard. Tune into āLez Talk About Itā at 6:00 on Wednesday. If youāre a local, come out - come out early - and have some of Chef Ronās delicious Gumbo and watch the show.
There will be Prizes and Giveaways of our Hand-Painted Saint Medals, including a Prize of our brand new Proust Picture Book. Itās also going to be all interactive! If youāre outside of New Orleans, check in LIVE on Facebook, āLIKEā Misti's page today - and send us a question or two via messenger to Mistiās Facebook page.
On Mistiās Program, we will be following the Lead of the infamous Marcel Proust Questionnaire and Album to Share Thoughts and Feelings, written over 100 years ago and discovered more recently.
Hereās how weāre trying to do it:
We plan to delve into the larger issues surrounding America today. We would like to open dialog between people of different faiths and backgrounds. Perhaps we can share what we have learned from the brilliant French Essayist, Marcel Proust. We can bring people together in community. We can share our thoughts and feelings. We do not have to agree! Like Marcel Proust wrote in this million-word book, āIn Search of Lost Time,ā we should strive to connect the past, present and future with art and camaraderie, not hatred.
Most importantly, this Newsletter is meant to promote Misti Gaithers LIVE PROGRAM, and Robās Invitation to be her guest. Thank you, Misti, for letting us talk about our SaintsforSinners ~ SaintsforHOPE imported Italian saint medallions and emphasize that our similarities far and away surpass our differences in America. The saints can help us do this, because thereās a saint for everyone and everything to offer comfort.
We need work together to get guns far away from the school children. Let's replace guns with saints. To hold and feel and share, to comfort and offer HOPE. The stories of the saints and others who worked so hard to do good things and bring people together are the stories that must be told.
Just a few days ago, on April 5th, 2023, Pope Francis sat with a group of teenagers worldwide, from Spain, the USA, Argentina, Peru, and other countries. He listened to the young people as they spoke to him about modern-day issues. Sexual identity, feminism, abortion, migration abuses, the loss of faith, and the role of women in the church. As usual, Pope Francis was a loving, caring, faithful listener. Just like Marcel Proust was over 100 years ago.
Pope Francis insightfully listened and commented that āthe Church suffers, because it turns into a club of good people who carry out their religious gestures, but do not have the courage to go out to the peripheries.ā He remarked,
āWhen you look at
reality from the center,
without wanting to,
you put up protective barriers
that (actually) take you away from reality,
you lose your sense of reality.
If you want to see what reality is,
go to the peripheries.
You want to see
what social injustice is?
Go to the outskirts.
And when I say periphery,
I am not just talking about poverty,
but about cultural,
existential peripheries.ā
Pope Francis sat and listened, and listened. And the need for us to listen to each other is the quintessential message from my Marcel Proust Picture book. When you listen, you glisten. I am presenting photographs of my friend, the local model and personal trainer, Keaton Baker. He is beautifully photographed page after page by my friend Tim Black, the Australian Photographer, who along with his wife Janna, are the creators and co-founders of Bonfolk Socks.
I know the book will be judged critically. A Rosary is arguably worn artistically and "fashionably." A shirtless man is photographed! The Proust Picture Book took me years to create and I have no regrets. Iām not standing in the center, here, as Pope Francis would say - Iām on the peripheries. I'm hoping to bring another lapsed Catholic through the doors of the church so they can sit beside me, in the back, maybe in the last pew. Perhaps I can hold their hand and say āThereās a better way. Letās take our Catholicism back!ā
Please tune into Lez Talk About It with Misti Gaither at Chef Rons Gumbo Shop and on Facebook at 6:00 (Central Time) on Wednesday and hear my thoughts and feelings. Challenge me with your questions. Criticize. I will listen thoughtfully.
Thanks for reading to the bottom line.
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.