Why give to YAV?

Several friends have asked me recently: In the world of things I could choose to do next year, why YAV? Wouldn’t I want to do something easier, closer to home, or better paid?

Most decisions about career and life paths are complex, this one included, and yet the evidence…

Change, next steps, and gratitude

There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with problems that can be the impetus for our growth. — Rev. Fred Rogers

Arriving to Austin

In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. — Marianne Williamson

Death and Life in the Borderlands

On Sunday morning, November 4, I sat in a church pew made of adobe clay for the first time in two…

Good Friday?

Today marks Good Friday, a day in the Christian calendar when we remember that Jesus died.

Today reminds me of the times that I have seen the cross in churches and forgotten that Jesus’ body once hung upon it. I mistakenly see the cross as a shape— rather than a physical marking…

Sanctuary in the Storm

Beginning work this week, I did not see the storms coming.

you have to understand

that no one puts their children in a boat

unless the water is safer than the…

Art in ATX

“How do you enjoy a city like Austin knowing how segregation and gentrification are warping…

Juan Coronilla-Guerrero: Remembering the Name of God

My Beloved said, “My name is not complete without yours.”

And I thought: How could a human’s worth ever be such?

And God, knowing all our thoughts, and allour thoughts are just innocent…