A Relationship With Art

A Relationship With Art

I recently spent some time in Washington, D.C. with the only thing on my agenda being a visit to the National Gallery of Art. My goal in visiting the museum was to spend as much time as I could with The Voyage of Life, by artist Thomas Cole.  The Voyage of Life is a...
Weighting To Exhale

Weighting To Exhale

The gym is dead except for the usual Midnight Posse: Intense Weightlifter Man, Treadmill Lady, Lap Pool Guy, and Old German Woman with Red Rimmed Glasses, who I affectionately call O.G.Red. The Beijing Olympics are underway and a previously recorded volleyball game...
Confronting Inner Prejudices

Confronting Inner Prejudices

Race and ethnicity slapped me in the face during the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. I arrived in Washington, DC’s Dulles Airport in August 2009 ready for JVC. New city, new people, new adventure. I felt a little nervous. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I immediately went...
The Trans-Pacific What Now?

The Trans-Pacific What Now?

Perhaps you don’t remember it from President Obama’s State of the Union Address: at one point during the speech, the majority of the Republicans stood up and cheered while most Democrats sat and glared at both the president and their colleagues across the aisle. This...
Real Presence: On (Being) Musical Wallpaper

Real Presence: On (Being) Musical Wallpaper

When I walked through the door, Agape Latte was already in full swing. There’s something formulaic about each of these monthly events: a coffeehouse feel, live music as people gather, free caffeine and sugar, trivia, t-shirt giveaways and a brief talk by a faculty or...
It Takes a Community: Cristo Rey & Carlos Belmont

It Takes a Community: Cristo Rey & Carlos Belmont

March 27th, 2015 was a typical Friday for Carlos Belmont. Dressed in a neatly pressed purple shirt and a black tie, he hustled across Harlem’s Lexington Avenue, hoping to catch the 9AM 6-train. Manhattan bound. He passed homeless men sleeping on benches, newspapers...
The After-Math: Which Lives Matter?

The After-Math: Which Lives Matter?

View image | gettyimages.com How do we challenge the idea that some lives matter less than others?  It’s a tough math problem…even worse than the common core…hard to imagine, I know. I hate math too. But these days the math concerning the value of...
No SNAP for You!

No SNAP for You!

Seinfeld, once the anchor of NBC’s “Must-See TV,” gave us many memorable characters, including the so-called “Soup Nazi.” A temperamental restaurateur sells soup that is praised wide and far. However, he is very particular about how his customers must behave. Only the...