The world you inhabit has suddenly become dark. You are seeing things you had, until this point, only read about in books. The brand of Christianity that you adhered to–that you wanted to lay it on the line for–has started to unravel under the weight of injustice. You will begin to shed layer after layer… Read More A Letter to My Younger Disillusioned Self, In a Time of Similar Upheaval
I recently gave the commencement address for a high school graduation. The students came from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Many ended up in the school because it offered them an alternative to a traditional classroom setting that had not served them well in the past. It was my first public commencement speech,… Read More Five Keys to Building Community
I had to reset the password on my old Yahoo account to access it. Once I was in, I did a quick search and found his name: Loren Baker. There it was, my last message from him. In the note, he thanks me for a postcard from Philadelphia and remarks, “It reminds me of our… Read More In Thanksgiving, In Memoriam
The United States needs comprehensive immigration reform. We need it now. There is a twelve-year-old girl on a crumbling stoop in inner city Philadelphia who can tell you why. She is a U.S. citizen, but is currently experiencing the trauma and pain of having a mother who is not. Clutching a bag of food from… Read More The Human Face of Immigration Reform
For most of her life, Karla did not know that she was an undocumented resident of the United States of America. She grew up in a densely populated neighborhood in South Philadelphia. She went to high school and got a job as a waitress in her teenage years. Her parents worked hard, sent money to… Read More Karla’s Story
A dark shroud seemed to envelope America in the last few weeks of 2012. From the constant media chatter about the fiscal cliff to the coverage of trauma and heartache in Newtown, CT, the days were filled with painful reminders of our human failings and fragility. The darkness seeped into my own family with the… Read More Illuminating God’s Love at Work in the World
I arrived late. The crowd was pressed in tightly. Layers and layers of winter clothing seemed to double the size of each person. Despite the throng, all attention was focused on a parade of icons making its way down the central aisle of the church. Cell phones were held high from nearly every hand trying… Read More The Virgin for our Time and Generation
Millennial 