May Flowers

"It is in the intimacy of our life as it arises that we are changed." - Kwan Ung Bill Boyle

It's hard to believe that it's been six weeks since our last update!  Our calendars (and our hearts) have been full!

Tommy joined an interfaith delegation at the Detroit office of Senator Elissa Slotkin to urge her to vote for the bill that would block bombs and bulldozers from being sent to Israel. He wrote all about it in this substack post. Our friend Nabil, who is a Muslim from Lebanon, started our conversation with Senator Slotkin's staff with this: 

Tommy was on the panel on Christian Zionism testifying about his own experience during this community call with Christians for a Free Palestine. We are traveling to Washington DC from July 4-8 for the Interfaith Action for Palestine. Check out the info here if you'd like to join us. 

We hopped in the van and drove to Dearborn to celebrate Lindsay's 44th birthday with beer and pizza and the comedy of Sammy Obeid. 

We drove out to Stroudsburg, PA to spend time with our dear friend Erinn who is going through a major life transition. 

She brought us across the border to New Jersey to get out on the Appalachian Trail. 

After a few days with Erinn, we drove down to Hampton, Virginia for a few days on the beach. 

This is Emancipation Oak, on the campus of Hampton University, a historic Black college. This tree is more than 200 years old. Many enslaved people listened to the Emancipation Proclamation right here in 1863. 

We both volunteered for Shareef Akeel at the Michigan Democratic Convention. We live in one of only two states that still uses the convention process (instead of primaries) for certain state and local offices. Shareef got through the convention and will be on the ballot in November. He is running to be on the Board of Governors at Wayne State University. It is obvious that Shareef cares about college students, especially those who are underrepresented (and demonized) like Muslims and Arabs. 

Lindsay drove down to Cleveland for the annual "Liberation Lab" at Cleveland State University. It is run by our friend C, who works for the InterReligious Task Force on Central America. 

                                                            

We attended the final service send-off for Kateri Boucher, who is leaving Detroit for a short stint at a monastery in Madison, Wisconsin. 

As we write, our friend Cait - who is a public defender in Detroit - is about to burst. Pray for Cait, Mike and their baby!!!

The annual Nakba Day march in Dearborn this past Friday was baked with a distinctive Palestinian blend of fierce determination, artistry and joy. 

 

Emerging from the Darkness

You've got to take it one possession at a time. - Julius Randle, 6'9" power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves

Here are some highlights of the people and places we got to walk and stumble and celebrate and lament and process and weave and sit and grieve and hope and laugh with over this past month…

We celebrated the 40th birthday of our dear friend Erinn Fahey in Detroit.

Tommy took a quick trip to SoCal. He helped Chris Dollar facilitate a Lenten prayer walk on the Panhe trail in San Clemente. See this report from Tommy's substack!

Hot and Cold.

The Ceasefire Choir.

“In this life the love you give 

Becomes the only lasting treasure 

So that what you lose will be what you win 

A well that echoes down too deep to measure.” – David Wilcox

We are starting a new rhythm. 

We will be releasing photo dump updates the first week of every month! 

Along with this dump, we’ll also link the past month of Tommy’s weekly Substack posts (available in both audio and written form), for those looking for more in-depth spiritual-political reflections in this season of escalating authoritarianism.

 

Here are his last four offerings: 

[85] All Over the Map. 

[86] Rock Bottom. 

[87] Road Trip. 

[88] What the Huck?

Here's a little bit of what we've been up to for the first two months of the year...

                                    

Reality Had Other Plans

At the Interfaith Action for Palestine
in DC in early July.

"It is just as important--more important actually--to fight for those who have no fame, clout, privilege, following, or access. This thankless, invisible work is essential to any struggle for liberation." - Dr. Cherise Burden-Stelly, Professor of African-American Studies, Wayne State University 

In our last update, we made the bold commitment to start sending shorter, more frequent updates. That was four months ago. We are realizing that reality had other plans for the summer. 

Our accompaniment work and writing ramped up, even as we cris-crossed the continent. On the night of his Aunt Vic’s memorial service, Tommy literally took a red-eye from Seattle to Washington DC to join Lindsay in their work at the Interfaith Action for Palestine. 

We’ve made several cultural pivots this season, which always comes with a blurry blend of exhilaration and disorientation. We love that we get to do this work. And yet, we have struggled to communicate with our network of support on a more consistent basis! 

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! 

Not Normal

Peter NG leading us in song at our 10-Year Party.

It’s high time we who believe in a world beyond endless cycles of violence stop trying to play by the rules that are stacked against us anyway. It’s time we stop trying to be right, perfect, or even “good,” and instead do what is needed. It’s time we stop waiting for someone to come and save us, and instead send out our own signal. One that is unwavering. One that blatantly declares that we will not let each other face these incoming long, dark, and difficult times alone. One that makes the bold statement that we will do whatever it takes to keep the soul of ourselves and this world intact. – Chani Nicholas, excerpt from 01.22.25 Newsletter 

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A few months ago, we celebrated with friends and former colleagues in Orange County to mark the ten-year anniversary of moving from Southern California to Southeast Michigan in August 2014. Our sister Kristen organized the event in my mom’s backyard. It was immaculate. 

We raised a glass and ate tacos and shared a few stories. Members of our board testified from the mic. Our friend Peter flew down from Portland to celebrate and play popular tunes on his ukulele. We were bathing in beloved community. 

Since our party, we’ve experienced a lot of heaviness. The election. The wildfires. The Nazi salute Inauguration. The flurry of fascist executive orders. The ongoing terrorizing of the occupied Palestinian territories. Honestly, it feels like things are spiraling out of control. It makes a lot of sense that despair, depression, denial and controlling behavior are seeping out all over the place. 

At the end of 2024, my friend Deni and I were texting. Deni was one of my favorite principals at Capistrano Valley High School. In our thread, Deni lamented that, these days, many well-meaning Americans are feeling absolutely overwhelmed with everything that is going on. She asked this: 

If you could advise one thing that everyone should do in the coming year to help the overall state of the U.S., what would it be? 

I immediately thought back to the day before George Floyd was murdered in 2020. Detroit pastor Rev. Roslyn Bouier got on a zoom church service that Lindsay and I were facilitating from Bend, Oregon. We were in the middle of the lock-down portion of the covid-19 pandemic. Rev. Roz told a dozen of us that our goal should not be about getting back to normal. Because “normal is overrated.” 

10 Years.

This month, we are celebrating the 10-Year anniversary of moving to Detroit and pivoting to the full-time work of soul accompaniment. 

If you are in the area, we would love for you to consider joining us for an open house celebration and fundraiser on September 21 from 4:30 - 7:30pm in Orange County. We're having a taco truck cater it and we'll have a short official program starting at 6pm, but you can swing by whenever. All kids eat for free! Check out the details and register for the event here!

We've compiled a lot of photo highlights below. What an amazing adventure it has been.