By James ClarkeApril 23, 2025“We’re innocent, but the weight of the world is on our shoulders We’re innocent, but the battles left for us are far from over…”—The Offspring, from the song “Not the One” (YouTube)I first heard The Offspring’s Smash album when I was fourteen, and it blew me away. As a c
By Verdis RobinsonApril 16, 2025“Can't no grave hold my body downCan't no grave hold my body downWhen that first trumpet sound,I’m gonna get up out of the groundCan't no grave hold my body down...."When I was growing up as a Holiness Pentecostal preacher’s kid, I always looked forward to Easter time
By Elizabeth StevensApril 9, 2025"Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change."—Bob KerreyFor many years, I served on a healthy congregations team in the Pacific Northwest District. Our task was to support congregations in engaging conflict in a
By Christine SlocumApril 2, 2025“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”—Coretta Scott KingIt was one of those days. Waiting at a red light, I was mentally rehearsing every scheduled second of my evening when I saw a speeding car approac
By Jes Martinez-HuntMarch 26, 2025“You are who you are. No one can tell you who you are but you. Whoever you know yourself to be, you are right.” —Maybe BurkeI didn’t grow up with trans joy. I grew up with longing, quiet adjustments, and learning how to make myself acceptable. I spent years thinking
By Quinn GormleyMarch 19, 2025“Many of us reject all of the inferior meanings and connotations that others project onto femininity—that it is weak, artificial, frivolous, demure, and passive—because for us, there has been no act more bold and daring than embracing our own femininity. In a world that
By Tomo HillboMarch 12, 2025“Cover my earth, Mother, four times with many flowers.Let the heavens be covered with the banked-up clouds.Let the earth be covered with fog; cover the earth with rains.Great waters, rains, cover the earth. Lightning, cover the earth.Let thunder be heard over the earth; l
By Michelle L. MillsMarch 5, 2025“The bigness of the world is redemption. Despair compresses you into a small space, and a depression is literally a hollow in the ground. To dig deeper into the self, to go underground, is sometimes necessary, but so is the other route of getting out of yourself, int
By Lindasusan UlrichFebruary 12, 2025“Your tattoos like the stamps upon your passport….”—“Wheat Like Waves,” by Death Cab for CutieFor the longest time, I’d admired friends’ tattoos but couldn’t think of what image I’d want permanently stamped on my own body. One day the lightbulb went off: I wanted
By Erika HewittFebruary 5, 2025“The hardest part of training a dog is developing the skills necessary to train a dog.”—Chad Mackin, dog trainerI don’t have a dog, but my social media feed knows how badly I want one. A rapt audience, I scroll through endless videos, preparing for the day I become a d
