Author: wordhabit

“I don’t want to go to school.” “Why don’t you want to go to school.” “Because…because school is not my jam.” As I repeated her words back to her, I started to laugh and a grin brightened her face. Then I got corny. “School’s not your peanut butter?” “That doesn’t even make sense,” she dryly…

When my second child was three weeks old, I started taking a writing course. Why? Because I needed to do something during my maternity leave. I’d found an in-person course and emailed the professor asking if I could do it online. In two days, he agreed to the arrangement, sent me a $50 invoice which…

This isn’t the type of presence I’ve been trying to embrace for almost 16 years of clergy life, the type that feels impossible after 3 deaths and 2 funerals, or after a weekend-long event with 80+ college students, the type I run from when the overwhelm kicks in. This ain’t that. This isn’t the type…

All that’s happening with our government is proof that the historical record of museums and monuments makes for nice photo-ops and a bit of education…but only as far as is convenient. Take the children on a field trip, but don’t let the truth of what is seen make room for introspection. The grandeur and intricate…

While so many were able to take their No Kings protest to the streets yesterday, I was helping with the second of three sessions of a lunch & learn series my church has organized where we’re unpacking parts of Project 2025. It’s a challenging undertaking, not because we’re trying to become experts on the document…

I wasn’t lost. I had the GPS running as I walked in the neighborhood around my office. At a certain point in all of my mostly right turns, my walk felt circular and all the roads I’ve driven many times looked different enough from my pedestrian point of view to usher in some doubt. I…