Four years ago, I read this scripture for the first time: ‘‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.’’ (Jeremiah 1:5) The idea is that God already has a purpose in mind for each life, long before a person has been conceived. It’s a difficult […]
Until police tactics that license aggression and brutal handling are changed, there seems no end to the cycle of death-fear-retaliation-destruction on all sides. Until brave leaders emerge to overcome despair with forgiveness and real tools for effective change, there will be none. Violence only begets violence. As Baltimore battles chaos, consider the victims of rioting. […]
Pets have the power to render humans, well, more human. While dog walking and meeting others, I sense goodness on both ends of the leash. All my defenses go down, and that, my friend, is spiritual. After my 17-year-old dog Mojo died in July, I couldn’t handle a new dog right away. Yet little Ginger […]
Women rent their bodies as a choice: a myth. Pornography is a harmless spectator sport: a lie. Both enable slavery, often with teenagers plucked from American neighborhoods. Sex trafficking is a $32 billion dollar industry worldwide. That only marginalized women fall prey is another false assumption. “People think it’s just poor black girls. Pimps will […]
I made stew for Dr. Henry Lee, the world famous forensic scientist. His 8,000 criminal investigations include O. J. Simpson, music producer Phil Specter, the reinvestigation of the JFK assassination, as well as examining atrocities in Bosnia, Croatia and the world over. I expected cool and distant. Instead he is like an uncle, telling jokes, […]