"Something has been broken for me; a fragile hope that the work of racial and gender justice will be embraced by the larger church."

Yolanda Pierce, an African-American professor and clergywoman who has spent her life building bridges across racial divides, questions whether she can continue her work knowing that four out of five white Evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/yolanda-pierce-a-fragile-hope-has-been-broken-by-my-white-brothers-and-sisters/9056

“It is true in religious life, as in politics and every other human discipline, that change does not coalesce around external fault-finding, but around internal searching and correction.”

Krista Tippett's thoughts on a generation-defining speech by a conservative religious leader that is Good News for all.


"A hundredth part of a day is the difference between doing something and not doing it. It’s the difference between an experience envisioned or postponed or never-dreamed-of and an actual experience, one that leaves you changed — initiated and ready for more."

Instead of focusing on grit and the "10,000-hour rule," what if we tried doing something new, even just for 15 minutes? In the course of a few days, Paul Elie describes his experience surfing Steamers Lane and hiking trails in a redwood forest and Mt. Tamalpais — and how it changes one's sense of things altogether.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/paul-elie-a-hundredth-part-of-a-day/8934

“We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat, and he said 'I’ll stand with you'. I expected to see fear in Norman’s eyes, but instead we saw love.” —John Carlos

An Italian writer pays tribute to the story of the little-known Australian sprinter who was on the podium that day in 1968 in Mexico City for the Olympic medals ceremony. A closer look at an iconic public stand for human rights reveals a heartening, surprising story of alliance and brotherhood.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/riccardo-gazzaniga-the-white-man-in-that-classic-olympics-photo/8035

"The universe itself is not good, nor is it is evil. The passage of time by itself doesn’t make things better, nor does it make things worse. It is the will of humanity put into action that inclines us towards the good and the beautiful."

Drawing on the walking undead from Game of Thrones, Omid Safi​ comments on the stubborn disease of white supremacy, and on resisting its spread with the resilience of kinship and kindness.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/omid-safi-white-walkers-of-white-supremacy/8827

”There is no such thing as closure. We have to live with loss, clear or ambiguous.”

Pauline Boss says that the idea of closure in fact leads us astray — it’s a myth we need to put aside, like the idea we’ve accepted that grief has five linear stages and we come out the other side done with it. She coined the term “ambiguous loss,” creating a new field in family therapy and psychology. And she has wisdom for the complicated griefs and losses in all of our lives and in how we best approach the losses of others — including those very much in our public midst right now.

http://www.onbeing.org/program/pauline-boss-the-myth-of-closure/8757

"I’ve been trying to turn from fear and blame to self-examination."

Is our political instinct also a quest for identity and worthiness? Courtney Martin explores the desire for belonging that is at the heart of our voting impulse.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/courtney-martin-when-the-question-of-worthiness-becomes-a-quest-for-identity/9039

”Each of us has to cultivate space for the mysterious, for unknowing. Call it an inner life; call it whatever works for you.”

“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” —Albert Schweitzer

As the United Nations prepares for its 71st session, Mohammed Fairouz honors the courage of those who came before us to make bold vows and asks us to step beyond our cynicism to achieve our greatest aspirations.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/mohammed-fairouz-the-virtue-of-dreaming-and-doing/8926

"Sports are social practices that form us morally."

The Olympics remind us of the glory of athleticism, but as a daily ritual, it's a gritty crucible for character. Don C. Richter on the the spiritual underpinnings of the discipline of sport.

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/don-richter-the-moral-value-of-sports/8856

"We have a limitless capacity for amazement. It's something of a miracle that when it comes to awe, we can contain multitudes."

In the aftermath of Brexit, media studies professor Marty Kaplan remembers that we have a limitless capacity for amazement even when we should be more fearful. When those times come, remember the starry nights and remember the coolness of rain.

https://www.onbeing.org/blog/marty-kaplan-sometimes-i-forget-to-be-afraid-of-things/8772

"Sometimes, the call is an awareness, grief, or longing present in one’s life with a sensibility that seems to speak, 'This isn’t the life I’m meant to live. There’s something more.'"

Change is forged in the crucibles of doubt and the unknown. Jim Marsden maps the arc of radical transformation — from heeding the call to finding a new center of gravity — and honors the mysterious spaces between the old and the new.

https://www.onbeing.org/blog/jim-marsden-the-journey-of-transformation/8717