Nearly a decade ago I started to slide down a steep slope into a very dark valley of depression. I slipped faster and faster with nothing to grab onto, until I watched the life I had known disappear. Poof! – as if I were Dorothy landing in the world of Oz, I found myself in…
Month: November 2014
Standing in the wind and rain at Portland’s iconic Killingsworth and Sandy intersection, I applauded my co-worker Juan Carlos Chavez de Vera as he was honored yesterday with the Immigrant of the Year Award. My body was frozen, but my heart was deeply warmed. The intersection lies in the historic Parkrose District, home to generations…
I serve on a legislative task force which has been convening the past 25 years as “an advocate for hungry persons”. The Oregon Hunger Task Force (OHTF) is one of the highlights of my monthly schedule, meeting as I do with government and private sector leaders to consider the needs of the state’s most vulnerable…
I must admit, I have one TV weakness – I follow America’s Got Talent half the year and The Voice the other half. More than the talent – which can be very good – I most enjoy the back stories of those contesting. I don’t like seeing people lose out, not even if their talent…
What does it mean to “Love your enemies”? I mean, are we really supposed to do exactly what the Bible says and love those who threaten to kill us or violate our loved ones or oppose our way of life? I don’t know very many people who have given away all but one of their…
