Sex, Death, and the Same Old Tree
I just keep thinking about that tree. You know the one. It stood in the center of the garden. Everything else seemed to grow out from its center, and lean in towards it at the same time. Drawn to its...
View ArticleWhen Violence is Not News
The fresh horror out of Virginia this morning: a news anchor and camera man went to work. Same as every day. But while they were filming, they were shot and killed. Live. On the air. It is a truly...
View ArticleOrdinary Day
Nobody came into my place of work today and shot me. No enraged white man walked into my children’s school and enacted a deranged video game fantasy on multiple young lives. My husband did not get...
View ArticleClose to Home: The Human Cost of Racist Rhetoric
Early spring in the Midwest means that my neighborhood has been a picturesque snapshot of American virtue lately. Kids riding bikes and playing basketball; families walking and running together on the...
View ArticleThe World All Around: How We Can and Can’t Shield Kids From Violence
I recently wrote a post about letting our kids have their privacy and not sharing every blessed part of their lives on the internet. I stand by it. That said–I’m going to share this thing, because it...
View ArticleThis One Is Different, and It’s Also Just the Same: On the Death of Jordan...
Last night, Jordan Edwards–a 15 year old football player and outstanding student–was shot and killed by a police officer in Balch Srings, Texas. Even as the story continues to unfold, a few things are...
View ArticleDear Congress, We Are Not All Protected By Armed Security
Every day, our lawmakers choose to protect the rights of violent men like the Alexandria shooter.
View ArticleDo Not Go Gentle: For Fear of Death, For Love of Guns
Do not go gentle into that good night… Rage, rage against the dying of the light.* There might have been a motive, they say. His mother-in-law goes to that church, they’re telling us now. He’d...
View Article‘We Just Want the Guns Back’: New Zealand’s Brave Response to Terror, and...
In the wake of a horrific act of gun violence that took the lives of 50 people—including children—New Zealand did this crazy thing. They banned the types of assault rifles that can destroy hundreds of...
View ArticleWho’s Free?
Hey you Over there on that side of history, on that side of the fence… Let me ask you– Who’s free? I bet The guys who signed the thing That made us free would Want to know now– Who’s free? Is...
View ArticleMaybe Our “Thoughts And Prayers” Are The Wrong Kind of Prayer
Prayer is not meaningless. Sure, it is no magic bullet (pun intended, hard). Nor is God a magic genie in a bottle. But prayer can be a deeply transformative act, when approached in the right frame....
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