Our May Share the Plate Recipient The Refugee Dream Center is a common venue for community engagement, cultural exchange, and a home away from home for refugees. Located in Providence, it is a place for caring, self-help, healing, personal and professional development, and a venue for empowerment, strengths cultivation, and accompaniment toward success. Their approach … Continue reading May 2025 Share the Plate – The Refugee Dream Center

Taking ourselves too seriously is one of the great sorrows of our lives. Yes, intense, sad, unjust things are happening all the time, but the spirit loves to be lightened and humor is one of the greatest ways to do it. Studies show that humor heals and can sooth our stress – ask Dr. Patch … Continue reading Minister’s Musings on Joy

Our April Share the Plate Recipient; Climate Action RI is an action group focused specifically on climate change and what can be done on national, local, and individual levels. Based in Rhode Island, it is a local 350.org affiliate. Climate Action RI is committed to climate and environmental justice across all sectors to foster a … Continue reading April Share the Plate

After experiencing some time down with illness the past few weeks and knowing we were entering the month to explore the practice of trust, I found myself frequently asking: “what does trust in a situation like this even mean”? Did I “trust” that I would get well? Yes, and yet …  And yet, as I … Continue reading In This I Trust

I am quite sure that, like most children, I spent most of my earliest years living in a wonderful state of presence. In fact, watching my now 1 year old granddaughter live her life I am reminded how young children possess an incredible ability to not only be present in the moment but to allow … Continue reading The Myth of When-Then

March Share the Plate is The Gentle Farm. The Gentle Farm welcomes all visitors, including those living with dementia, those experiencing trauma, folks of all abilities, grandparents with their grandchildren, moms, dads, teens, toddlers, and everyone else. The farm is home to goats, chickens, rabbits, donkeys, and mini horses. Since opening in 2020, the Gentle … Continue reading March 2025 Share the Plate

When I ran support circles for metastatic cancer patients, we had a practice of affirming anyone who shared something challenging by simply saying together: We see you. We hear you. You are held. You are loved. Those affirmations helped the person to feel grounded enough to come a little bit more present to whatever difficult … Continue reading I Am Here

One of the key practices of repair we can all improve on is making clean apologies. Often when we’ve caused harm, even unintentionally, a rupture is created in our relationship with another person. In dominant culture it’s pretty common to just keep going and ignore those small ruptures. But if little harms keep piling up … Continue reading The Spiritual Practice of Apology

In a workshop I attended many years ago I was invited to write a letter to my former self. At the time it was a radical idea.  I had had my share of hardships in my short life and there had been many things that I had wished I would have done differently, but, I … Continue reading Minister’s Musings on Repair