In a recent op-ed, Senator Brent Hill argued against adding the words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to Idaho Human Rights codes, unless people can be exempted from human rights for religious reasons. He said: “the only viable solution is a balanced approach” and we should be “seeking fairness rather than unilateral advantage”. With language…
My STAR word for 2018 was “favor”. Noah is said to have found favor with God in the book of Genesis, before the ark project begins. And Mary, the young girl from Nazareth is greeted by a divine messenger and told “Greetings, favored one!…. You have found favor with God”. She goes on to (spoiler…
Content warning–this post is about sexual assault and rape. I am fortunate. While not all of my dates in my youth were great, all of my dates were safe, consensual, and respectful. When I told boys to stop, they did. Even if a few of them spent time trying to convince me to change…
……I got all my sisters with me. That’s about all the lyrics I know from the Sister Sledge song, but they are enough. This weekend I flew to Seattle, stayed with my sister, visited another sister, and met a new sister. I have one more sister yet to meet, and one other sister I have…
This summer at our All Church Retreat, we baptized a young man who happens to be transgender. He was able to claim the name he wanted to claim when he was baptized because he had not been baptized as an infant, with another name. Two other members of the church were also there at the…
We saw the film Three Identical Strangers last night. Here’s the synopsis of the film from its website: Three strangers are reunited by astonishing coincidence after being born identical triplets, separated at birth, and adopted by three different families. Their jaw-dropping, feel-good story instantly becomes a global sensation complete with fame and celebrity, however, the…
I haven’t published much lately about my birth family discoveries, mainly because some of the more recent ones are taking me a while to process. There continues to be much gift for me through all of the experiences I’ve had, whether they’ve been the joyful reunion kind or the painful answers kind. I’m the kind…
I’m currently in St Louis, attending the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), our biennial national meeting. The first GA I attended was 22 years ago in Albuquerque, where we were living at the time. My son Alden was a baby in a stroller at that assembly, and he was there with me…
The Enneagram is a tool that has helped me more than any other. It recognizes and numbers 9 (“ennea” = “nine”) different personality types and offers a path to understanding, to acceptance, and to transformation. If you’re unfamiliar with the Enneagram, I do not recommend that you take an online test to determine your number.…
In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, there has been rhetoric about making schools “harder”. The idea seems to be that if teachers (or other school employees) are packing heat, the bad guys won’t target those schools. President Trump wants to arm the “highly adept” or “weapons…
Glass Overflowing 