What it takes to be a great human being
To “set the darkness echoing.” Dear friends, Thanks for reading last week’s “raid on the inarticulate” where I talked about poetry and “the collective stories that bind us together.” Warning: Once again, I am in poetry mode. (Somebody send me a beret!) Angela Alaimo O’Donnell says she writes verse as an exercise in “straining light […]
Our “raid on the inarticulate”
…not “a strange adventure in the little world of me.” Dear friends, I’m about to experiment with bringing the idea of welcome (in case you haven’t caught it yet, that’s our mission distilled down to one word) into focus in an odd way. It’s a way I think all of you comprehend whether you would […]
Why—Now More Than Ever—Welcome Matters
Dear friends, Today, I am going to answer a question I hear a lot: How does the fact that there are no refugees or immigrants coming to our country and many who are here legally are being deported affect the mission of Refuge? Simple answer: It doesn’t. As you know, our mission, which includes a […]
Do you need a win?
Dear friends of Refuge, I know what it feels like to desperately need a win. A job offer, a split-second moment when what feels so heavy is lightened, a check in the mail, a longed-for face to show up, a win. I suspect you know what that feels like. Over the years, I’ve joined others […]
Poetic Delight
“Poetry is all about symbol and metaphor. Because you have that kind of language, it allows you to be delicate, no matter what the subject matter is. No matter how dark it can be delicate, you can lift it out of that dark space in a way that’s beautiful and gentle.” ~ Nikki Grimes Dear […]
Our Refugee Neighbors are not “it”
Dear friends of Refuge, I was going to write an email all about how our upcoming Refuge Run to Brew Hope is, well, all about brewing hope. And I could have done that… but this week, I’m convinced that “brewing hope” is a difficult endeavor with higher stakes than most of us imagine. At the […]
Sharing Our Heroes
Dear friends, Several years ago, our small Refuge team took a field trip to The Center for Civil and Human Rights. If you’ve never been, it’s worth a full day of your time! After visiting the Civil Rights floor, we made our way upstairs to the Human Rights exhibit. I remember Leon calling us over […]
Come on, try the gateway drug!
Dear friends of Refuge, I know that subject line sounds suspiciously like peer pressure. Actually I’d call it click bait, and I’m thankful you took it! Someone recently told me that Refuge Coffee was “a gateway drug” to Clarkston. That comment reminded me of a suggestion someone made early on that we should ban selfie-taking […]
I Cheerfully Refuse
Dear friends of Refuge, The following poem was prompted by conversations I’ve had with many of you. As I’ve struggled to make sense of the tension between my own grief at losing my dearest love, Bill, and the vein of joy that remains in my life even now, I’ve also doubled down on my resolve […]
A little virtue signaling ahead
Esse Quam Videri(To Be Rather Than to Seem)~ Cicero Dear friends of Refuge, Two years ago, while on sabbatical, I spent some time formalizing a core values statement for Refuge, mostly based on what I’d observed lived out on our team and in our community. Years ago, I read Cicero’s words–Esse Quam Videri–and I was […]
