Trauma doesn't make people stronger. It damages their nervous system. It hijacks their digestive track. It keeps the person in a constant loop of hypervigilance. To tell someone they are stronger because of trauma is to deny them what it has cost to survive.
If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive.
The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed by the holy power that life itself comes from. You can survive on...
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
This year, I am finding myself really needing Holy Saturday. I need this space where the shadows of death have not yet given way to new life and resurrection.I need a day where we sit together in those shadows and watch the disciples be unsure of what is coming next....
The temptation is powerful to close our eyes and wait for the worst to pass, but history tells that for freedom to survive, it must be defended, and if lies are to stop, they must be exposed.
Angel, a Jew, owner of the most famous bakery in Germany, often said: "Do you know why I'm alive today? I was still a teenager when Nazis in Germany killed Jews mercilessly. Nazis took us to Auschwitz by train. Last night in the ward was deadly cold. We were left for...
The beauty of Christian spirituality is that the God we are in relationship with is for us in Christ. Like the father in the prodigal son story, God is waiting with his eyes looking for us in the distance. He is waiting to embrace us. This image might take some...
If all the things you are afraid will happen, happen... and you survive it... You become dangerous.
Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being's suffering. Nothing. Not career, not wealth, not intelligence, certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we're going to survive with dignity.