Category: Love

  • It Needs to Look Like Love

    Yesterday, I posted the following on my Facebook page: How would you advise someone whose lover a) demands strict adherence to a set of rules or else, and b) uses life’s disappointments and tragedies as ways of getting their attention, and c) claims to have stood by as a murder took place–when Read more […]

  • A Failing Grace

    I wonder if Christ would have refused to construct furniture for a Lesbian couple or anyone else, or if He would have used the opportunity as an entrée into their lives, and they into His.  And I further wonder if He would have favored a law (He seemed so repulsed by law in general) that…

  • 4 things my mom has taught me about mothering

    1.  It’s extremely hard, but most of us are capable of it.  My mom has taught me that the act of mothering is perhaps THE greatest challenge—and THE greatest gift—of this human experience.  She also taught me to fully reject the social construction of the Western world that says that nurturing Read more […]

  • “25 Things I’m Grateful for!” (My monthly gratitude list.)

    Emails from my kids. After the long journey from Uganda, I walked into my American office on Monday and found a delightful gift and card from a colleague whose last day of work had been whilst I was away. That spiritual connections remain even when our human experiences take different routes. Electricity!  Read more […]

  • I answer the Q: What does “compassion without borders” mean to me?

    Below is an essay that won a competition in celebration of a visit to my university by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.  It was printed in a booklet, and gifted to His Holiness.  We had been challenged to answer (in 500 words or less) this question: “What does ‘compassion-without-borders’ mean to you?” Read more […]

  • “Thought-Snapshots” (A 2-minute post from London–on contemplating delight.)

    Two nights ago I was in a meeting with colleagues, discussing cultural implications for resilience among young people, and then off to a dinner with friends at a favorite eatery in downtown San Diego.  Last night I was crammed into an uncomfortable airplane seat for 11 hours, flying across seas and Read more […]

  • Don’t just do something, stand there. (A 1-minute reading.)

    One of my first kids was initially brought to AidChild covered in wounds—the beating kind.  Nearly every inch of his little body had been abused.  We don’t know his date of birth, but he must have been six or seven years old.  It was truly awful. Like all of my kids, he quickly rebounded, and…

  • “The Power of the Hand-Written Word” (a 50-second reading)

    I sat down in my usual seat in class the other afternoon, and spotted a little envelope with my name on it.  I quickly surmised that it must be a thank-you-note from a colleague.  She and her husband had been to my apartment for dinner last weekend, and the note was a very gleefully-received gesture…

  • “Thank you for that courage!” (A 45-second reading.)

    One day, many years ago at home in Uganda, I had the opportunity to give an employee some positive feedback.  He looked at me with a big smile and said, “Thank you for that courage!” While I assumed that perhaps he meant to thank me for my encouragement, I liked the notion of courage as…