The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain appeared in 1885. This book together with its companion featuring Tom Sawyer, became standard classroom fare for generations of students. These texts continue to be referenced today though often as abridgments, not shortened in Reader’s Digest fashion, but altered in content especially related to the language employed.

James: A Novel, by Percival Everett, became an immediate best-seller when it was released this year, touted by the New York Times and the Atlantic, among others, as a “masterpiece.” The story is a reimagining of the 1885 Twain classic as told through the African American eyes of the slave, Jim or James, as we as readers come to know him. We meet James as a loving father and husband forced to live in a world that denies him basic human rights and freedoms. To survive and protect his community, he carefully hides his intelligence, insights and compassion. Both he and Huckleberry escape their unique forms of oppression as they raft down the Mississippi River. It is through this journey that James’ innate capabilities are liberated.

Looking deeply into a story, a condition, or a circumstance from a different point of view can raise all sorts of emotions for us, such as fear, shame or surprise. Taking the time for deep looking, through centering prayer, meditation, or mindfulness practices helps us to calm initial feelings that may arise through unfamiliarity. Thich Nhat Hanh calls this, “confronting our habit energy.” For many of us, our habit energy invokes impulsivity, switch-tasking and reliance on exterior voices of agitation rather than on the interior, quiet voice of the heart.

How might I cultivate moments of awareness to challenge notions that no longer nourish me during my journey toward becoming a compassionate human being?

-Betsy Schussler