Father Ismael Moreno Coto – the Jesuit priest everyone calls Padre Melo – is a spiritual leader, the director of a radio station and one of the most respected political analysts in Central America. In his native Honduras, he routinely speaks out against widespread human rights violations, fraudulent elections and government corruption. All these factors, […]
On a sunny October morning in North Carolina, the Carolina Memorial Sanctuary’s small staff gathers in a clearing. Sumac and blackberry brambles are waist high, and blue jays shriek at the small group from a stand of pines. There’s a burial the next morning, and the weather forecast is iffy. The Sanctuary’s founder, Caroline Yongue, […]
“You’re going to your spiritual dwelling, and to have to enter the door in combat mode is really traumatic. But…you have to go back. You have to stand in the fire.” Women don’t always feel welcome in American mosques. They’re sometimes turned away, sent to basements to pray, or discouraged from serving on the boards […]
Most religions teach people to help those in need. But what happens when that mandate clashes with how the government views the law? After federal prosecutors cracked down on volunteers providing aid on the border, Scott Warren faced decades in prison for following his conscience. * * * The desert near the Arizona-Mexico border can […]
“It’s very important that you understand that each time I speak out, it’s not about an American nun who was tortured…It is about every mother whose son or daughter is disappeared.” Since she was little, Dianna Mae Ortiz spoke about wanting to become a nun. She entered the Ursuline order at 17 and trained to […]
Regina Evans recalls how during a rough point in her life, the pastor at a friend’s church prophesied over her. “She said, ‘I see them, I see them. Your children are coming,” She’s laughing and she’s happy. And I was like, whose children are coming? What children?” The children came alright. Regina didn’t birth them, […]
Sarah Byrne-Martelli remembers being fitted for her medical grade N95 mask on her first day back at work during the pandemic. “They have a kind of metal piece over your nose and you’re supposed to push it through to the back of your skull for 10 seconds, really hard,” she says. The mask suctioned to […]
Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom in front of a Chicago city park mural designed by Stateville Correctional Center students. Photo credit: Karl Soderstrom Listen and subscribe to The Spiritual Edge wherever you listen to podcasts – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts. By Monique Parsons Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom grew up poor, completed college and graduate school, got a great job […]
Along with everything else he does, Russell Jeung is a runner. He has logged nearly 1600 miles this past year on trails near his home in Oakland California. Sometimes, his routine includes what he calls “breath prayers.” “So that’s breathing in and out. I would take two strides and say something like ‘God sees me.’ […]
When the phone rang, I heard an elderly woman’s voice on the other end: “We’re going to Washington DC to be arrested. Want to join us?” The call came from Sister Joann Persch and Sister Pat Murphy, two elderly Catholic nuns ages 85 and 90, who are famously engaged with the country’s immigration debate, and […]
The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century was never really one movement. Lots of reformations sprouted throughout Europe, and one of the most radical gave the world the Mennonites, who trace their roots to the Netherlands. This tiny Christian sect still embraces a theology that renounces violence, welcomes refugees and shuns materialism. Like their spiritual […]
Dean Issacharoff wears small round glasses. He has bushy brown hair and bright eyes. The night I visited his Tel Aviv apartment, he opened the door for me barefoot, in cutoff denim shorts and a thin t-shirt with a picture of Cookie Monster on the front. He was on the phone, working. Dean is the […]
In the Palestinian town of Jericho, customers cycled in and out of Sameer’s cell phone shop to buy new SIM cards. Sameer sat behind a desk, clicking through Youtube for music from his teenage years. He sang along to an anthem about young Palestinians taking to the streets to fight for freedom from the Israeli […]
Becoming Muslim BONUS: Some History of Islam in America — The Spiritual Edge
How did Islam first arrive on the North American continent? Did enslaved West Africans bring it to America? Or did Muslims sail with Christopher Columbus first? Later, Islam spread in the United States, among various communities. How did that happen? In this BONUS conversation that’s part of the Becoming Muslim series, host Hana Baba dives […]