-
Doing Good by Shopping Well (a List of Fair Trade Companies)
The world is a complicated place, and sometimes it’s difficult to know how to make a difference without causing any further harm. I’ve been pondering this lately, as I so badly want to do my part to shine a light, but don’t want to stomp out anyone else’s light in the process, or make anyone think I’m more important than I actually am. I was reminded that one way to do good without accidentally doing harm is to be conscious of where we spend our money. When we spend each dollar, it’s like we’re voting on the kind of businesses we want to see and the kind of world we…
-
To the Woman Who’s Life Has Not Gone as Planned
On the table in the waiting room of the women’s clinic are gifts for new or pregnant moms labeled “Welcome to the Sisterhood of Motherhood.” The bulletin board in the exam room is covered in photos of babies that I’m assuming this doctor helped bring into the world. This is all ironic since I am here to ask the doctor, among other things, if she thinks my body will be able to bear children one day, or if the chemo has damaged it beyond repair. I rotate my head toward the opposite wall so I that I don’t have to stare at the baby pictures anymore. But the artwork is…
-
Breathe Into These Dry Bones
(Inspired by Ezekiel 37) There are times I’m forced to see the barrenness inside of me. All the things that will never be, things too broken for science to fix, plans that can no longer exist. In the valley of dry bones and dried up dreams hope long forgotten life left long ago. Will it return? Only You know. The name of this place is scarcity. When I emerge from it who will I be? Abundance or just an empty shell? Together or broken, I cannot tell. I feel as cracked and dried up as the bones in this place. Hopes dead so long they’ve been bleached by the sun.…