Reading poetry is one of the ways some of us nourish our faith, a way we set or reset our inner compass and stay focused on the big picture, on the spiritual journey. I know that is true for me. ‘Setting the Inner Compass’, is a column where I share poems that I find meaningful and hope others do as well. I write this on the edge of Advent, one of my favorite seasons in the church year. I find meaning in the ritual of advent candles. As we light the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love before we conclude on Christmas Eve with the Christ candles, we are i
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Gathering with family and friends who question your identity or beliefs is hard and sometimes, the best thing to do is to have an exit plan. Give yourself permission to leave. If you have a friend or supporting family member with you and you feel uncomfortable, have a code word for when you want to leave or change the subject. The ideology around family and the holidays often creates spaces that are unsafe, and it is ok to leave those toxic spaces.
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Christians bear historic responsibility for the current catastrophe in Israel/Palestine, due to the destructive legacy of anti-semitism, Islamophobia, and imperialism. Alongside Jewish and Palestinian leaders working for peace, Christians must do our part to end the violence. So many people are grieving. In the past week, over 3700 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed in the months prior in 2023. As I write this, Israel is telling 1.1 million people in the northern part of Gaza to evacuate as it retaliates against Hamas’s October 7th horrific attacks on civilians. The UN and human rights groups say such a large-scale evacuation will be impossible and as Palestinians yet again flee their homes, a humanitarian crisis is deepening. Meanwhile, hostages taken from Israel remain in
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For 31 consecutive weeks, Israelis have taken to the streets, mostly in Tel Aviv, to protest the decision by the current right-wing government of Israel to initiate an overhaul of its judicial system. Israel’s “Unreasonableness Law” is a measure that removes the courts’ power to overturn decisions made by Israel’s Cabinet or Knesset, or its ministers, that they find to be “extremely unreasonable”. The law strips Israel’s Supreme Court of the power to overturn government actions and appointments it deems “unreasonable”.
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