Parties, Podcasts, Planting Seeds, Protests and Play

"The opposite of rich is not poor; it's free." - Rev. Lynice Pinkard

In our last update, we said that we wanted to send out shorter posts more frequently. We've faltered in that mission. But in this Spring update, we will offer fewer words and more faces - and commit to sending out another update before the Summer Solstice! 

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Lindsay's favorite nature spot in Southern California is the 2-mile trek to Top of the World, the ridge overlooking Laguna Beach and the Pacific:

Our friend Sheldon (above and below) came out for a spiritual retreat and got fogged in right before sunset on the trail. Sheldon is the director of development and strategic direction at Manna on Main Street, a food pantry and soup kitchen in northeast Pennsylvania. 

We got to commune with beautiful friends, kindreds and colleagues, new and old, at our dear friend Ashe’s wedding in Minneapolis. Check out Tommy's Substack newsletter to read more. 

We drove down to Cleveland to participate with a panel focused on choosing liberation over religious nationalism for the 2025 Liberation Lab organized by the Inter-religious TaskForce on Central America (IRTF). You can watch the panel here. 

We were prodded to deeper commitment and action by our viewing of the powerful film “The Encampments,” with a small contingent of our Christians for a Free Palestine Lenten Solidarity Circle in OC. Check out a screening near you: https://www.watermelonpictures.com/films/the-encampments

We participated in a couple protests with WSU’s Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Wayne State Law's SJP. In the first pic below, Lindsay and Rabbi Alana Alpert marched with Wayne State’s SJP. In the second pic, Wayne Law’s SJP organized a protest and press conference to oppose Michigan A.G. Dana Nessel’s authoritarian prosecution of UofM students, 11 of whom she charged with felonies for their protest of genocide with their powerful encampment last Spring. Just this week, in a huge win for the right to protest, after national pushback to Nessel’s violent FBI-raid of students’ homes the week prior, all charges were dropped! 

We got interviewed on The Sacred Slope, a recently launched podcast for those who have exited Evangelicalism, and are looking for Christian faith that looks less like White Christian Nationalism,

more like Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It is produced and conducted, brilliantly and refreshingly, by Alexis Rice Wittkampf, who was Tommy’s former student and a long-time friend and peer of Lindsay’s. Listen to our episode here!

We celebrated Lindsay's birthday the first week of April at one of our favorite brewpubs in the D: Elephant and Co.

And, of course...we found multiple occasions to convene, commune, and party with SoCal friends and family. Some highlights pictured below!

Above: With our nephew Riley at Six Flags Magic Mountain. This guy loves rollercoasters so much that going to Magic Mountain was one of only two things on his wish list for his 12th Birthday. His rollercoaster-junkie-Aunt-and-Uncle were more than happy to oblige.

Above: more action with the nephews, including rocking climbing, taking in the Minecraft Movie on a date with Mason, cheering on Mason at his school jog-a-thon and several little league games, and celebrating Riley’s stellar performance in Beetlejuice!

 
Here's to a Spring bursting forth with more parties, podcasts, planting seeds, protests and play for a liberated world. What could be more fruitful than that?