The article discusses the dire predictions of climate change’s impact on humanity, emphasizing the need for peaceful protest as a means of fostering solidarity and advocating for change in an indifferent world.
The sin of empathy
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, prelate of the Episcopal Church had the audacity to do something truly radical recently: she asked a president for mercy. Mercy is not necessarily entirely foreign to this particular president. He showed “mercy” to 1,500 men and women pardoned on his first day in office, some charged with violent crimes, for […]
Ginkgo’s Reprise
I miss you, Ginkgo,yellow leaves and smalland wonder what you’re doing nowamid this winter’s call,if leaves still left you, all bones and bare,if even you’re still standing there,I miss the ancient promise foundyour cycling leaves going round and roundI miss you, Ginkgo,and think you miss me, too.
Crickets
I still hear the crickets chirpingin unison,theirs the voice of God more thanthe voice of God,songs all the way up some hillwhere the tents stood like boothsfor a sacred calling,and I do not know if I belong stillamong such spaceswhere the cicadas whisperedlove,as they shed their past lives –or if my making it of lovewas […]
To be silent, or not
This morning brought unsettling news. The Court of Appeals in the Philippines upheld the conviction for Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and her former colleague at Rappler, Rey Santos Jr., all but ensuring she could see as many as 100 years in prison on charges of criminal cyber libel. You read that right: if convicted on […]
Black Bears, Red Clover, and Holocaust Survivors
I almost hit a black bear on Saturday. I was coming down a mountain road, having just entered the Del Water Gap National Recreation Area, and he walked onto the pavement to cross the road. I slammed on the brakes, we made eye contact, and he turned and jumped back into the tall grass. It […]
Dealing with the Scary Stuff
A friend and colleague of mine who does human rights work alongside me mentioned recently that she went on vacation and left her work phone off the whole time, only to fear when she turned it back on she would learn someone she’d been in touch with had been murdered the night before. It wouldn’t […]
Russian Atrocities in Ukraine Foreshadow the Future of the GOP in its Willingness to Use Lies and Violence to Get Whatever it Wants
As the images and stories of the war–brought to us by courageous journalists–fill our feeds, I can’t stop thinking about the approval rating for the war from within Russia, or the fact that Russian soldiers who took over Chernobyl had no idea what the place was, or the dangers that lurked there silently. Propaganda and […]
Art and the Sacred in the Unexpected
Most every concert I’ve ever been to, when the main act starts, the crowd goes wild. Everyone paid for it, everyone anticipated it, everyone is glad it’s finally here. Even when the music was slower, there was always something about that first note that sends the crowd over the edge. There’s one notable exception in […]
Thoughts on Precedent Setting, Slippery Slopes, and the Fracture of Society
Say what you will about autocrats and fascists, enemies of democracy and illiberal rulers: I don’t fear them as much as I fear complacent, hesitant ‘progressives’ and ‘liberals.’ Don’t get me wrong, Vladimir Putin is far more deadly and dangerous than, say, Chuck Schumer or Kamala Harris. No question plenty of people in this world […]
