China is a place where things rise and fall overnight. In a country that has pulled itself up from its bootstraps in just a few decades, this pace of modernization has not been without cost. Last year I witnessed a sizable community garden rise up within twenty-four hours, as migrant...

  The Western Wall in Jerusalem, also known as the Wailing Wall, is considered one of the holiest sites in Judaism. If there is ever a place to get your prayers answered, this is it. People have been praying at this ancient wall since the fourth century. They often write their prayers...

  Last December, about forty people gathered in our sanctuary after services. There was no lunch, no set teaching, no guest speaker. It was a time to reflect and share thoughts about race relations following the acquittal of white police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown in...

  My great-uncle Bill passed away a couple years ago. And just a few weeks ago, his wife, my great-aunt Betty, passed away. They were both well into their nineties and had lived a good life. They had no children and, like many people, we learned a lot about them after their passing...

  “The biopsy of the lump we removed from your eyelid just came back from the lab. It came up positive for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. You should follow up with your primary care physician.” This was the message I received from the doctor’s office fifteen years...

  My mom is amazing. I know many other people feel this way about their moms too—but really, my mom is amazing. She’s sacrificial, strong, and resilient. She’s a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. She kept our family together and alive while they trekked to Thailand...

  I have a not-so-secret secret: I am trying to get a book published. It took me about three years to write the manuscript, half a year to get a literary agent who would represent me, and another half a year to rewrite it in preparation of submitting it to publishers. Here’s my...

  Holidays: that magical time of the year when all of your family dysfunction is supposed to magically disappear and be replaced with smiles, laughter, presents, and good cheer. Bah, humbug! Just kidding. I’m not really a Scrooge. I enjoy eating huge meals and spoiling little...

  I often get the feeling from my friends of the more Protestant persuasion that liturgy is a boring, rote discipline mostly devoid of meaning. I know I’ve thought that for a while.  But in the past few years, I have come to appreciate more liturgical services. When we...

  One of my joys in life is to grab a cup of Philz coffee in the morning. I’m not allowed to do this every morning for budget reasons, of course. The magic is in going when there’s no line and the barista gets the cream and sugar levels just right. I hit the jackpot with...