Today is Veteran’s Day and I’m thinking about what I learned from doing my clinical chaplaincy training at the VA working with veterans. Above and most surprisingly of all, how hurtful it can be to them to promote the American myth of heroism. Now I know how counterintuitive this sounds…

It’s probably easiest to say that I’m not a patriot because of how our country was founded on and continues to be maintained by violence, slavery, oppression, inequality, and propaganda that silences the truth and promotes the very opposite narrative. As Frederick Douglass famously proclaimed: “What, to the American slave…

The irony of Chanukkah this year is that as we kindle lights anew each night, the Trump administration is extinguishing lights in an unprecedented federal killing spree. Both started last Thursday- I lit the first night candle within hours of Brandon Bernard being executed by lethal injection at 9:27pm.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, and if you don’t it may sound terribly insignificant, but here’s the thing: it’s ok to be anxious and scared right now. My day started off with someone telling me that as a hospital chaplain I should remain “peaceful” and “not anxious.”…

I don’t think people are scared of biking in the city because it feels dangerous. After eight years of commuting year-round in Boston and Seattle, and just as many years of people expressing surprise that I bike in even blizzardy and rainy conditions, I’ve come to believe something deeper is…

I went canvassing with a group of friends in a nearby swing district yesterday. It was cold and rainy and, as usual even though I’m 31 years old, I dressed completely inadequately for the weather without bringing a rain coat or umbrella. But I was done feeling guilt and shame…

As I lay awake at 3am still processing the horrific news of the shooting this morning at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh where 11 people were murdered by a white nationalist who screamed “All Jews must die!” before slaughtering those present at Shabbat morning services and a bris —…

Dear Men, Let us be angry right now. Let us be furious and outraged and so overwhelmed with hurt and hopelessness that we may not be able to find the words to describe our emotions and feelings in ways that are socially acceptable. Let us be raw right now. Many…

I don’t think people are scared of biking in the city just because it feels dangerous. After six years of commuting by bicycle in Boston, and six years of surprised reactions that I do it year-round, I’ve come to believe that something deeper is going on. …