Many years ago, I accompanied my friend to a clinic where she, like millions of other women in this country, had an abortion. Despite the fact that she had a loving family and many friends, she sought only my support. I remember every detail of that experience — from the…

2022 marks the year of the Water Tiger. Unlike cartoonish images of a drenched, miserable feline, tigers (along with most other big cats) are powerful and proficient swimmers. Should you have the chance to see a swimming tiger, you might notice fearlessness, beauty, and ease, as if nothing could keep…

“I started in one direction and ended up where I am today. How I could have come to be where and who I am is beyond my understanding.” A friend recently shared these words with me to account for the impact that grief had had on him. We talked about…

Today is my 60th birthday! “This is it,” someone recently told me, conjuring up names like geezer, has-been, and codger. They somehow imagined it was my time to sit idly in a rocking chair and stare out the window. The truth is, the opposite has come to pass. …

You are sacred. You are a blessing. You have medicine to share. You can heal the world. Imagine if every child, every person, started the day with a blessing like this. That’s how it was for young Jerry Tello, whose grandmother would tiptoe into his room in the pre-dawn hours…

“Be like water making its way through cracks…and you shall find a way around or through it… Be water, my friend. ~ Bruce Lee ~ The death of Ahmaud Arbery verifies the staying power of white supremacy. The verdict from the trial of Mr Arbery’s killers shows that white supremacy…

What are your early memories of Thanksgiving? Thinking back to the ten-year old me, I remember my grandmother staying up all night cooking not 1 or 2, but 3 turkeys to feed her clan. I remember the chopping of her cleaver against the woodblock as she prepared vegetables along with…

Five years ago while at a racial healing conference, I witnessed fifteen hundred people transition from the plenary to their breakout rooms to experience a healing circle. It would be a first for most, and I felt a mix of excitement, trepidation, curiosity, and wonder pulse through the participants. I…

Give me the key in which I am to sing, and, if it is a key that you too feel,may you join and sing with me.” — Stevie Wonder As the holidays approach, I find myself asking how to call forth joy given the sadness, frustration and despair that pervades…