On a recent, overcast Thursday evening, I co-led a presentation in San Marcos, Texas, about creating a local, interfaith environmental network. I didn’t know what to expect; in retrospect, I guess I didn’t expect much. San Marcos is a small town compared to the other cities in which I’ve offered this presentation. I wondered whether enough people would even be interested.

We met in one of the basement…

My Christian friend LeeAnne got the conversation about Faithful Advocacy started by reflecting on a passage from the Gospel of John: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth...” (14:16-17a).

In LeeAnne’s reflection, she explains that advocacy—“speaking up for the powerless and working for justice”—is a Christian…

It was the opening day of the Texas Legislative session, and our Interfaith Service of Public Witness was off to a rocky start.

A few minutes before the start time, three of the participating speakers still hadn’t arrived. The visitor’s lot was unexpectedly full, and I knew they were out there circling downtown streets, searching for parking.

It was raining. Instead of having our service outside on the South Steps with a podium and a microphone as planned, we moved inside to…

“Mom, I’m hungry. Can I have your grapes?”

“Sure,” I replied—even though I’d been counting on that handful of grapes to carry me through the next few hours until dinner. It was Day 6 of my community’s Food Stamp Challenge, for which I’d committed to limit my food spending to the equivalent of “food stamp” benefits, $31.50 per person, for one week—and I was hungry. But I didn’t…