Last night I wanted to celebrate Iftar. It was the first night of Ramadan in Washington, D.C. (though the second in Virginia, where I sleep), and I’d never had the privilege of being in a Muslim-majority nation during that holy month of food and family, daytime fasting and nighttime feasting. With a number of Muslim coworkers and […]
Continue reading →A certain cat of my long and loving acquaintance passed away today. He was named Rudolph Valentino after the great black-and-white movie star because he was: Grey with black eyelids, A very pretty fellow, Quite stupid. He was also known as Tino to family, “the pretty one” to artistic friends and “piddle kitty” to one […]
Continue reading →On my trip to Lebanon I was privileged to hear the Ambassador from the Vatican–who my excellent book on the American Foreign Service calls the “nuncio of the Holy See”–speak to a group of high school students from schools run by the Al-Mukasad foundation. The Pope was encouraging people to live in peace; nowhere that […]
Continue reading →Photos from our trip to where many, including Pope John Paul II, think Jesus was baptized. Inspirational Quote: “So many rivers I’ve got to cross There is so many rivers still left to cross And I’ve got to get over – some way, somehow I’ve got to get over”–Roll River Jordan
Continue reading →For every major trip I take, I choose a theme for my Inspirational Quotes. For my trip to the Middle East, I chose “hymns that mention the River Jordan.” This is not because my trip was a religious pilgrimage–though I did see the place where the Pope said Jesus was baptized and where many folks think Moses was […]
Continue reading →I attended a prayer today while visiting a partner anti-human trafficking organization. Every day at 11am, everyone in this organization stops their work, walks to a room, sits down in chairs, listens to others ask for prayers and everyone prays for them. They were kind enough to let me and two of my colleagues join them after […]
Continue reading →A lot of folks have just started college and I don’t think they should have to wait 4 years to hear great advice on how to live. So here are my 3 favorite speeches for graduation: Anne Lamott’s speech at the 2003 Berkeley graduation, “Let Us Commence.” For other sources of hints on how to […]
Continue reading →I’ve been feeling pretty grouchy about women’s rights today, culminating in finding this quoted in a lovely religious progressive group blog: “Who,” [Atlanta Lutheran-Missouri Synod pastor Joshua] Genig asked, “is speaking up for the mothers who, under HHS mandate, have been falsely coerced into feeling that to be a woman means to have ‘control’ of their own bodies?” […]
Continue reading →NB: I wrote my real return address on the letters, but blurred it out for the internet. I didn’t only use the heart stamps for my letters to the priests in my community who support protests which intimidate pregnant women because they’re the ones I have on-hand. A few weekends ago, I witnessed a dramatic contrast […]
Continue reading →According to 40 Days of Life of Pittsburgh, a non-profit which connects pro-life protesters with clinics to protest during Lent, there are 70+ churches which support 40 Days for Life. 40 Days for Life of Pittsburgh provide a pdf listing all of them here. When I walked into the clinic Wednesday to volunteer phone banking […]
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