These days, there is a lot of poverty in the world, and that’s a scandal when we have so many riches and resources to give to everyone. Pope Francis Angela Burgess is on a mission to help families escape the poverty trap and find hope for their futures. I met this exuberant carrier of hope through the Houston non-profit RaiseUp Families organization. After being a long-time donor, she became the executive director in 2020. In […]
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Labor Day Today
“Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close; Something attempted, some done, Has earned a night’s repose.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Labor Day Today As we head into the beloved Labor Day weekend and transition from summer to fall and another academic year, let’s pause and consider the ancient tensions between those who do the manual work that keeps society going and those who finance that work. Labor Day today is more about […]
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Welcoming the Stranger
We are a nation of strangers. Welcoming the stranger when we’ve needed them to farm our fields, lay our railroads, or build our skyscrapers has always been part of our country’s philosophy. On Monday many of us will again be waving flags, grilling burgers and hotdogs, and watching fireworks to celebrate our independence. In the 1600 and 1700s European countries, especially England launched hundreds of ships full of immigrants who eventually established what became the […]
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It Takes a Village
It takes a village to raise each new generation. Last Monday was the 78th Anniversary of “D-Day,” aka “Operation Overload.” On June 6, 1944, a village of 150,000 troops, 195,000 sailors, and 23,000 airmen put down their collective feet to say, “NO MORE!” to the violence, tyranny, and carnage created by a madman. Can’t We All Just Get Along? This question is a paraphrase of what Rodney King asked in 1992 when riots spread destruction, death, […]
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Who Sits at the Table?
June 3, 2022 An important factor in healing some of the deep divides we’re experiencing in society today, is to examine who sits at the table. Who do we invite to provide information about issues? Who do we invite to participate in making decisions about the best course of action? If we only invite those who look, think, and act as we do, we leave out large swaths of society. Addressing who sits at the […]
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