My sister and I love Frozen. Okay, maybe we’ve all heard “Let it Go” enough times by now, but there’s something about this sweet story of the love between two sisters that connects with our hearts, and I almost always tear up at the climax when Elsa is hugging Anna-turned-to-ice. Plus, all the little […]
America, Arendelle, Frozen 2, pandemic @, racial reconciliation
This winter, I’ve had the privilege of being on the launch team of Cara Meredith’s debut memoir, The Color of Life. Cara and I belong to the same literary agency, and I’ve followed and admired her work since first hearing her as a guest on one of Barb Neal Roose’s podcasts (which are wonderful—check […]
Cara Meredith, James Meredith, racial reconciliation, The Color of Life
Lord Jesus, We need you right now. I know we always do, but I’m very aware of our desperate need at this moment in our country. There’s so much hurt, Lord…so much hate. How we must be grieving Your heart. Yet I have to believe that You can bring good, even from this. Use […]
Charlottesville, prayer, racial reconciliation
It was a warm, blue-skied afternoon on our recent trip to Arizona and New Mexico, and Anthony and I were about to hike down into historic Canyon de Chelly. First Ted and Evie, our hosts and my dear friends for a number of years now, walked us to several of the most famous lookouts […]
Canyon de Chelly, Kit Carson, Navajo Long Walk
My husband and I sat in the movie theater watching Hidden Figures on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year. I loved the movie—so well written, directed, and acted, and such a beautifully inspiring true story. If you haven’t seen this uplifting film of three African-American women, mathematical and computer geniuses working at […]
Hidden Figures
I watched my students, their faces stricken. My heart pinched for them . . . because I remembered how it felt, to learn some of these things for the first time. This school year I’m teaching American Literature, and one of things I love about our school is the flexibility to somewhat develop my […]
Common memory, doctrine of discovery, Native American Heritage Month
We stood in the parking lot, my sister and mom and I, talking animatedly though the clock ticked toward eleven at night. It was this summer, less than two weeks after the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, followed by the shooting of five police officers in retaliation, and the country was reeling. […]
police shootings, racial reconciliation, West Side Story
It’s been quite a summer, hasn’t it, friends? Not only has it been a rather full and crazy month or so in my own life (hence not much posting here!), but it’s been a hard one in America and round the world. First there was the awful bombing and attempted coup in Turkey. […]
Aslan on the move, Man in white, Refugee crisis
Originally posted February 5, 2015. It’s February—Black History Month! Sometimes people feel that separating out a select month for African-American history only emphasizes racial divisions rather than helping overcome them, but I love how my friend Sandra Barnes addresses this issue here. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve really become aware […]
Black History Month
A re-post from last year’s “Stories that Need to Be Told: Selma, #BlackLivesMatter, and a Truth Commission,” posted January 21, 2015 (though with an update at the bottom) in honor of this MLK day. With all the heartache and death and division that’s continued to tear our country this year…and yet also many efforts toward […]
Martin Luther King Jr., Selma
