“We’ll always leave the light on for you” my dad said to me before I pulled out of the driveway starting my journey back to college. His words stayed with me. These were some of the warmest words he had ever said to me. Like a vote of stabilizing confidence blessing me into the wider… Continue reading “We’ll Leave the Light On For You”
Oof. That’s what I have to say: Oof. I don’t like to think of myself as a person who “others” my neighbors. I like to think of myself as a person who is open and inclusive—as a person who really lives into that story from Acts 8 where the Ethiopian eunuch asks Philip what… Continue reading Conflict Avoidance as Othering
What does it mean to be a reconciling leader? I have asked myself this question throughout this Journey of Hope, and I suspect (hope) I will ask it of myself for the rest of my days. I held this question in mind when I wrote my “I Am From…” poem, and realized that for a… Continue reading Never Alone
There’s a park in my neighborhood. It might not look like much. There’s a playground that’s often covered in graffiti, a half basketball court, and some picnic tables and benches. But this park represents about two decades of prayers, dreaming, community meetings, phone calls, door to door surveys, and letters to City Council. For a… Continue reading Hope Embodied
When asked who most shaped my understanding of reconciliation my answer is: the Revd Canon Paul Oestreicher. I was privileged to meet him when he was invited to Munich to speak about Coventry Cathedral’s Community of the Cross of Nails to members of the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft, which my father headed at the time. Then (and… Continue reading Cross of Nails
I grew up in a family of five—I (Linda) am the oldest, followed by my two younger brothers (Matthew and Paul). What began as a happy childhood was sideswiped by drugs as my brothers entered adolescence and started exploring the world of illegal substances. Our happy little family was never the same. As we turned… Continue reading Paul Janney
“Who must I become as a leader in order to accompany my church in her pilgrimage from the comfort of power and control to the vulnerability of community?” When this Journey of Hope pilgrimage first began, I felt an urgency to help move my church from here to there. I had anticipated this journey serving… Continue reading It’s Over…And We’ve Only Just Begun
Since beginning this Journey of Hope pilgrimage, the need to slow down has been a consistent theme as I face my own pressing question—“Who must I become as a leader in order to accompany my church in her pilgrimage from the comfort of power and control to the vulnerability of community?” While that seemed counterintuitive… Continue reading Escalating Conflict…Creatively
“Who must I become as a leader in order to accompany my church in her pilgrimage from the comfort of power and control to the vulnerability of community?” The answer to this pressing question seems more distant to me right now. Rather than moving on this pilgrimage toward “the vulnerability of community,” it feels like… Continue reading On Slowing Down and Surprises
