Dear Bridesmaids, I am not a fan of open letters. I oppose them at every turn. But, with the 29th anniversary of my marriage to H quickly approaching, I realized, with shocking gravity, the great necessity of writing this letter to you, my dear, brave, kind friends. In spite of the unfortunate …
Because Every Little Book Needs its People
So... We wanted to extend this invitation first to JTREAT-ers and those of you who hang out here, in this space. Please forgive my sweaty palms, and excuse that loud beating of my heart. Pretend you don't notice the quavering in my voice, either, okay? I've got a book coming out in October, …
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In Which We Build a Book List Together, to Help Move the Conversation Forward
One of my suggestions for moving the conversation about racism forward—from going around in circles, to actually making progress, even if incremental—is to read books by writers from a different culture, race, or ethnicity from your own. When I made that suggestion, I almost added a list of …
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The What to Do Issue
I think it's time to move this train forward, don't you? If you hang out here on a regular basis, you know my feelings about race, racism, the Church, and the Body of Christ. If you hang out on social media, or watch the news, or read the newspaper, you know people are talking. Lots of people are …
An Invitation to Those Who May Be Feeling Squeezed
My phone rang yesterday and, on the other end was the voice of a dear friend of mine. I'd never heard her voice before yesterday, but that is the nature of some friendships, isn't it? I just checked Facebook and found out we've been friends since October, 2011. But, we'd never actually spoken to …
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One Year After Ferguson (In Which I Have Some Questions for You)
Our vehicle is having technical difficulties, and so I'm writing this in a waiting room at the Subaru dealership near St. Louis, Missouri. Yesterday, H and I got up early(ish) and drove nearly eight hours, from our home, to Missouri. There, we witnessed the marriage of our dear friends' daughter to …
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