In our divided world where everyone seems to be self-protecting, drawing up sides, canceling out their dissent, and boosting egos or right-ness, creating sincere, safe spaces for hard conversations is a missing practice in our communities. These kinds of conversations, … Continue reading Brave Leadership: Bridging Divides & Building Peace
Carnal fasting He was running everywhere. He was running from home to school, running from school to his afterschool job, from his job back home. Running while wearing extra clothes, a sweatsuit under a sauna suit. Or was the sweatsuit … Continue reading Empathetic Fasting
“I believe in the sun, though it be dark; I believe in God, though he be silent; I believe in neighborly love, though it be unable to reveal itself.” The quote was an inscription from an underground room where nine … Continue reading What Empathy Takes and Gives
Recently we had a racially motivated crime in Jacksonville, FL (8/26/2023). A white 21-year-old decided that due to his hatred of African Americans (Blacks), he would attempt to gain access to Edward Waters University, the oldest Historical Black University in … Continue reading Empathy The Power of Understanding
Empathy and Why it is Important “Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace of joy or … Continue reading Empathy: Why Does it Matter?
In 1961, journalist John Howard Griffin wrote a book entitled, “Black Like Me: A white man learns what it is like to Live the Life of a Negro by becoming one!” The book documented his experiences in the South after … Continue reading Walk A Mile in My Shoes
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. John 11:33 (NIV) Have you ever encountered a story or a post that touched your heart … Continue reading The Weeping Word for a Wayward World
Once, I was a young pastor’s wife whose husband returned home broken from a tough board meeting, which would be the catalyst for his eventual resignation from parish ministry. When Matt started talking about walking away, I wanted to be supportive, but the situation felt unfair. He had been a pastor for nearly ten years, it was the only life we knew together, and we had no idea what we would do next if he quit. I felt the kids and I were caught in the middle, swept by the tide of circumstances that were not of our doing yet … Continue reading Too many words…too little empathy
According to Wikipedia, In politics, a dog whistle is the alleged use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. The concept is named after ultrasonic dog whistles, which are audible to dogs but not humans. … Continue reading Economic Dog Whistles
Three-Fifths 