Wading into the Waters at Tijuana
By the blast of God’s nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall. The enemy boasted, "I will overtake them. I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.” —Exodus 15:8 Caravans of refugees are arriving in...
Humans Rights on ICE
When I came to the Border Project for Human Rights, Mexico was under the chilly grip of winter. I left Baja California on March 1st, enchanted by the world of whales mating and dolphin pods leaping. In Magdalena Bay I traded my swimsuit for a scarf and wool hat. Baja...
Minga on the Edge
Go and come back. Go forward and see. Pray and listen. Come home and share. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Love through hate. Hope in darkness. In March I will live for a few weeks near refugees, and hear their stories in the hot sidewalks of Tijuana/San Deigo. On...
Learning AVP When Enemies Are Everywhere
How are prisons violent? Humans learn to reciprocate love and leverage power with each other. Like lumbering bears, we grow every day. Prisons stunt growth. A herd of humans can become a stampede that tramples each other. Humans howl—when threatened we snap our teeth....
Darkness and Borderlands
Before the longest nights of 2018, I heard about the exodus of Latinx had reached the Mexican northern border. During the dark of the moon I was obsessed with the drama and the heroism. I saw the poetry in streams of people fleeing in groups of 80 or of 45 or of 15....
Thirst in a Land of Milk & Honey
September 20, 2018 Where is the land of milk and honey? Is the Fertile Crescent the beginning of civilization? The Middle East is a crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, why is the US military so entangled there? The land caressing the Jordan and Euphrates rivers is...
Mary Dyer at the Poor People’s Campaign
June 14, 2018 Quakers have joined in the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) for these last two months. Every Monday for 5 weeks, we have gathered near Boston Common. Yes, Friends were ruffled and hot. Yes, Friends raised their voices against the liars and gluttons in our...
Spring’s Truth
The world is sweet and dripping with Spring. Holy abundance has sprung underfoot. My heart quickens at the sweet flute of finches, the hum of the first bees at the cherry blossoms. Wasps, lizards, chipmunks and coyotes learn to adapt to this explosion of Spring. And...
33 Years of Resistance
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. —Martin Luther King, Jr. How can I remove myself from the war economy? Jesus’ message is to drop the sword and find...
Angelic Troublemakers
Quaker Worship Feb 25, 2018 — Spoken Ministry I asked the Holy One for water, and I was given ice. I asked the Holy One for warmth, and I was given the embers of a dying fire. I asked the Holy One for truth, and I was given an ancient poem. In my confusion, I asked...