August, 2006

Emily Warming

I was nervous for Mark Chmiel to come to Creighton. Mev only died a week ago for me. I was grieving and it seemed like he were coming to Creighton to help us bury her. How do we talk about this book with this man? How do we even begin to address the flash, the brilliance, the ahh! bright wings of Mev? She so radiated and resonated with us. Presente! She is with us. The book was so personal, so broken open, receptive and burning of suffering and joy, so sacred in some way. The many voices; the concrete manifestations of exhilaration, edification, frustration; the crushing grief; the inexplicable soaring of heart; the hope hope hope made this book breathe with the holy texture of life.

What to say? I feel like quoting Mev: “WHOOSH!” To be in the presence of Mark’s humble gentle spirit and great depth of wisdom so edified me. He encouraged Jessie and me so much. He validated us. He nurtured our questions. He was so patient and kind. We experienced a great depth, a great breadth of heart, mind, spirit in him. I told Jessie just after parting with Mark, “I feel like we can graduate now, like we have been set free.” He helped us get free to love, free to not know, free to let go, free to be, free to go on to the next step in this mad crazy life journey.

Meeting with him, hearing his presentation, being in his presence, sharing pumpkin bread with him during a Nebraska tornado warning was somehow the pinnacle of these final moments of my undergraduate career. I only mean to say that so much of what filled Mark’s book touched me personally—as it has for many—and…it was so natural and beautiful to have him here on the day I read the final pages of Mev and Mark’s story. I have carried the story with me all semester and to have him turn out to be real (yes, he exists! this story does breathe!) makes Mev all the more real to me—makes her lived message all the more a challenge to my own life.

Indeed, Mark has done his part to liberate me. His book and his presence have opened me to so much more to do and say and read and think and be. I will always carry their story with me: hold it all.

Emily is working with JVC in El Paso, Texas where she lives in a women’s shelter 2 blocks from the border.

by Sheila Serra

Dr. Chmiel,

I hope you enjoyed your peaceful time at 6 North (I think that is what it is called) the other day. Thankfully while searching through my enormous bag that I carry between my apartment and home, I found The Book of Mev! I am so glad that I don’t have to fight off my mom’s librarian friends to get it back. Anyway, I decided to start it over again and am about 3/4 through it. At home there are always two dogs barking, parents talking, or the TV running so I’ve been reading a lot at work which seems to be a much better place to get some quality reading accomplished. I am not sure if I have said it earlier, but thank you for giving me a copy of your book. I cannot imagine writing such a heartfelt piece and it is great that you are able to share so much of yourself with your readers. I enjoy the transitions in the book and how you go from one chapter about you and Mev, to something going on in the world at the same time. It really grounds the chapters and also reflects the idea that there is a whole world surrounding us with its own issues. Also, I really appreciate how your writing shows yours and Mev’s very human qualities. That might sound odd, but it is just that with such spirituality and dedication to causes, travel, etc. it is refreshing to see that you still have moments of bickering, rough-housing, and self-doubt. Nearly every intricacy of yours and Mev’s life together is captured in the pages of your book. The mood ranges from elatedness to despair and everything in between, but there is a persistent spirit that I believe touches you as your read. I hope to finish The Book of Mev this evening.

Thank you again for this book and do you have any future publishing plans? Stay cool in the 105 degree weather and take care.

Sincerely,

Sheila Serra

Sheila took Social Justice at SLU in the spring of 2005.

by Lilia Azevedo

Dearest Mark,
I’ve just returned from 10 days at the beach, in the company of the Book of Mev and Mark…

THANK YOU and God bless you…

I feel truly blessed for having been able to read this wonderful story that made me cry, smile, wonder, pray…

Both of you have brought our utopia/dream of “world-wide” solidarity to a dimension I had never really been able to envision. Reading and sharing your experiences of places and people whom me know, with who we also have been in solidarity with… it’s truly amazing. I have been daily thanking our Mother/Father for making our roads cross one day.

And for making me want to see Mev before she died…

I’m sure you will have a wonderful time with John in a few days.

I hope you are aware that if there ever is anything I can do for and with you, you have but to ask.

In deep love and solidarity, Lília Azevedo.

Lilia has long worked with the Saint Dominic Solidarity Project from her home in Sao Paulo, Brasil.