Olena Zelenska, educated as an architect, is a screenwriter and the first lady of Ukraine. In a recent Vogue interview, she highlighted Ukrainian women’s tenacity and skill in caring for loved ones, going to work and resisting Russian military aggression in their…
Searching for the Christ Child? No directions needed
I come from generations of farmers, machinists, carpenters and clothing makers, all gifted with finely honed spatial skills. They are adept at deciphering maps, finding their way home without directions and creating clothing without patterns. My loved ones can conceptualize…
Abiding in thin places: Día de los Muertos and lessons from loved ones passed
My longest-standing disagreement with my mother stems from an early childhood memory. I recall waving to my great-grandmother while an adult held me in loving arms. I vividly remember Big Granny smiling and waving back to me as strangers carried…
Lessons from Coach Ted Lasso
I benefit from working with folks whose bulbs are brighter than my own. Initially, I thought that grades, test scores or advanced degrees from impressive institutions measured intellectual prowess. But as years pass, I learn that there are additional ways…
Spilled Cheerios and a theology of care
During the mid-1990s, I was a sleep-deprived mother of a newborn and a toddler, a wife, a college professor, and a doctoral student with an unfinished dissertation. While zombie-walking through mundane chores, I heard the contents of the last box…
As humans, we are wired for love
There is a growing list of unacceptable people created by church folks who claim to speak for God. The list includes people who are queer, who are marginalized because of their race/ethnicity/gender, who lack political, social, economic power, who are…
A story that’s better than happily ever after
Don’t get me wrong. I’m keen on Nordic and UK mysteries. But last week, my friend and I sought relief from plotlines that feature a cranky, substance-abusing detective who alienates family and colleagues yet ensnares the killer. These sagas sometimes…
How to find resilience for the long run of COVID, as we’re ‘almost there, but not quite yet’
Rochelle Walensky, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed more than a statistical update during a briefing last Monday, sharing her concern about the uptick of new coronavirus cases even as more than 2 million Americans are…
How to follow a leader
We see many American citizens proclaiming an inseparable love of God and country right now. Although it has a new tenor, we have depended on this idea to justify our national actions in domestic and world wars, environmental disasters and…