Everybody Matters
(Say it on a SHIRT!) When our oldest grandson turned 13, our son Stephen took him to Yosemite to celebrate. Stephen asked the important men in his life including, of course, his dad, to send a 3–5-minute video message to Gunnar. While camping in the wilderness, Stephen had issues downloading his dad’s message… because instead […]
Great-Power Politics or Great-Courage Love
Last week, I read about the new great-power politics in the New York Times, and I’ll admit that the alignment of the world’s powers into two camps feels scary and unsettling. This emerging dichotomy is bound to affect all of us in some way, large or small, in the next decade. I confess I worry […]
To See Between
Kaimamiru Today, I invite you to look between. Between the words you hear about all the sides. To look between words like “blood bath” and “anti-democracy” (for that matter, all the anti- words: anti-science, anti-faith, anti-whatever), words that shout at you to take a side because the other side is reprehensible (and maybe it is). […]
Wasted Sweetness
Last week, in More on the Subject, I shared a brief story of a small moment of joy at Refuge in Clarkston. This week, I find myself hoping and praying for you that you experience similar moments. And I find myself hoping Refuge Coffee creates those moments of true refuge for others, no matter who […]
A Thousand Ways to Do Something
Several years ago, as a few of us sat at a picnic table at Refuge Coffee planning a Community Iftar Dinner in Clarkston, Dr. Heval Mohamed Kelli said this: So many people think of a thousand reasons NOT to do something, but what I love about this community in Clarkston is that you think of […]
Explainers, Elucidators, and Enchanters
I am wary of any sentence that begins with, “There are three types of people.” But sometimes a one-word “type” is a great shorthand for defining ourselves. So here goes: There are three types of people: explainers, elucidators, and enchanters. That sentence is my extrapolation from an observation about three different kinds of writers by […]
Would you Radder?
When our youngest granddaughter, Marin, was pre-school age, she loved to regale us with “Would you radder?” questions. You can hear a few of them here. Clearly, Marin didn’t fully grasp the concept. Drop my doughnut and get it yucky or eat it? Fall in a volcano or drop my phone in a volcano? In […]
Welcome is Big Enough for all the Sides
I’m just a human who wants to be welcomed.I’m just a human who wants to welcome, too. This is a universal necessityand an equally universal capacity,written into my DNA and into yours. Distill welcome down to its purest form,and it is nothing more or nothing lessthan love. Kitti MurrayMarch 1, 2024Clarkston, Georgia These are not […]
Confession
I have a confession to make: I’ve felt some resentment lately. This is frightening to me (hence the need to write it down and, thus, I hope, dispense with it!) because I abhor resentment as much as I abhor self-pity. I was brought up to rise above my petty resentments as quickly as possible, a […]
Is this an interruption or is it the thing?
Dear friends of Refuge, I love interruptions. But they do tend to throw my internal universe off balance. I’m not a particularly laser-focused human being anyway, so when I am focused enough to be productive, an interruption can seem like the enemy. Except that interruptions generally come in the form of people. People I happen […]
