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...

                                    This winter had us both waking before sunrise many mornings.

                Spirit was trying to get our attention, no doubt - so we tried to make more room to listen.

                    Here’s the link to an IG post, with a poem that came to Lindsay one such morning:

                                               “on sunrises, solstice stirrings + global uprisings…”

                                              And indeed, 2026 has seen more of us rising up…

Renee Good (4/2/88 - 1/7/26)

Our inaugural Christians for a Free Palestine retreat.

Our dear friend Erinn has now run
 at least one mile for 140 straight days.
It's called a "streak."
We celebrated her on Day 100.

 Cheering on our fave teen basketball 

star in suburban Farmington Hills!

Breaking bread and hearing from dear friends Jonathan, Sarah and Belén, 

reporting back from their recent trip to Palestine. 

(pic: Shalom Community Church, Ann Arbor).

At the rally in downtown Detroit a couple days
after Alex Pretti was murdered in Minneapolis.
Check out the weather...

The day after the rally,
we flew to Southern California.
A rather different climate. 

 We shared a meal with our dear friends
Lola and Jeannette in LA.
Lola is pregnant!!!!

Kardia Kaimene board member Chris Dollar led
Tommy up to the top of Sitton Peak. 

With the Nephews at Knotts Berry Farm!

 Truth be told, Mason would skip all the coasters in favor of the chicken fingers ;)

One of the highlights (besides peeing our pants in sheer thrill & delight 

on the big coasters w/ Riley)….

     As all four of us rode a more chill coaster (Jaguar) to close the day at sunset,

Mason turned around, the most content smile on his sunlit face, and simply declared:

“This is what it’s all about.” 😊 

Indeed, Little Man.

 Many sweet, meaningful and fun adventures with these dudes filled us up!

 It was soul medicine in the middle of this extreme Michigan winter.

Here’s some more medicine from our Feb stint in SoCal…

 We got to soak in the sun at three different beaches:

The Hole, San Clemente.

Manhattan Beach.

West Street, Laguna Beach.

El Tarasco, Manhattan Beach.

Some of our favorite Mexican food!

(+ a Mike Lamont classic haunt)

Lindsay and her sister got to spend 48 hours together at the Roseman's desert home.

It was meaningful, connecting, fun and grounding time.

And the longest (perhaps ever! Lindsay realized),

 these sisters have gotten to spend such extended time together, just the two of them.

It was a real gift.

Pictured (above & below) are some stunning photos Kristen took along the awe-inspiring 1.8 mile loop they hiked through Tahquitz Canyon, "one of the most beautiful and culturally sensitive areas of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation,” home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

Back in the O.C.,

walking the horse trail with Penny!

                                      …we got to go on several more adventures with these guys,

                                             but were too busy playing to remember to take pics!

                                                           Speaking of being too busy playing,

                                                 here was a big highlight of the trip for Lindsay

                                    (while Tom drove the minivan x-country back home to Detroit):

                                                          

                           Thanks to our generous long-time family friend and neighbor, Dave Lorenson,

      Lindsay, her Mom, brother Greg, Sis-in-law Casey, and our littlest niblings Milo (6) and Haylen (4)

                                                          got to go to Disneyland. For FREE.

                                         It was the first time being back in over 20 years (for Lindsay), 

                                                         and first time ever for Milo and Hay.

                                                     Lindsay was so grateful to extend her trip

                                           to get sweet, extended time with the Lamont family, 

                          who were generous enough to let her crash this special portion of their vacay.

                                                    Highlight phrase of the day from Haylen...

                                              (while patiently riding Pirates of the Carribean, 

                                                             after turning yet another corner, 

                                                           only to see yet another skeleton):

                                                         “Get. Me. OUT OF HERE!!!!” 😨😅

                                                             

                                                      Highlight phrase of the day from Milo...

                                      Squealing in pure delight after all the big coasters and drops,

                                                     an ear-to-ear grin lighting up his whole face:

                                                             “I felt SO UNSAFE!!!” 😁😅😍

                          Watch out Orr cousins: we’ve got another rollercoaster junkie on our hands!

                                                 Getting some inspiration from Refaat Alareer 

                                                        during an evening neighbrhood stroll.

                                                                   

We lost a dear friend and
comrade to cancer this month.
Joseph Baker
(9/11/74 - 2/4/26)

 The first of a series of community interfaith iftars this past week.
A handful of our CFP community are crossing over for Ramadan,
as the seasons of Lent and Ramadan happen to coincide this year.
Some of us are fasting from food and/or drink, others from Amazon,
and still others are adding daily practices which bring us closer to the Divine,
and deeper into service and solidarity.
Those of us (especially) who identify Christian, or who come from Christian lineages,
see this Lent as a poignant Moment to fast
from the Islamophobia and anti-Arab/anti-Palestinian racism
that soak the western Christian traditions
(both liberal and conservative)
we all grew up in and around.

                                   And a couple honorable mentions from December to close out…

We spent a good deal of December organizing

                                    here in Detroit for a series of subversive public caroling actions 

                                           with CFP’s Advent Action campaign, in solidarity with 

                                               the national + global #BoycottChevron campaign.

                                                             Check out more here and here.

                                           Saying goodbye to dear friends Prashant and Monica,

                                                      who moved to NorCal in early December.

                    

                                                  The time Tommy and Erinn did snow angels, 

                                                                     on the Huron in Ypsi,

                                                             when it was just 1 degree out.
                                                     #compostingtheabsurdwithsomeabsurdity

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 

--------------------------------

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. 

Collective Action

It has been a very busy past few months. See below for photo documentation! 

But before you scroll down, we just want to give you two important updates: 

 

1. Tommy is moving most of his writing to his new Substack newsletter. He is posting pieces every Sunday morning. You can subscribe for free here. 

2. At the end of this month, we are joining an interfaith coalition in D.C. to take on Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest Zionist organization in the country. Christian Zionism is a far-right fascist ideology that bears major responsibility for the ongoing U.S.-sponsored Israeli genocide being waged on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. CUFI is antisemitic and aggressively white-and-Christian supremacist in a way that is actively working within the highest places of power in our nation to strip us of our rights, safety and freedoms here domestically as well. 

We are going to DC to participate in the largest interreligious protest for Palestine. Please consider joining us July 28-30 if you can! 

Redefined

"Definitions belong to the definers, 

not the defined." - Toni Morrison, Beloved

For the past fifteen months, we’ve been participating with a grassroots organizing campaign called Core City Strong. The Core City neighborhood is directly to the west of Woodbridge, the neighborhood in Detroit where we live. Core City is literally right across Rosa Parks Blvd from us. It is 96% Black and has a median household income of under $20,000. Core City summons old memories. There are many burned out buildings and open lots where homes once stood. But a lot of people still live in the neighborhood. On many Spring and Summer afternoons, Tommy runs through Core City, tracking wildflowers, feral cats and friendly faces. 

A dozen years ago, a wealthy white dude named Murray Wikol bought a parcel of land for $1300 in Core City. He tried to sell it for a huge profit a few years later. Then, he pivoted with plans to build a concrete crusher facility. Just a few blocks from homes, schools, churches and organic farms. He applied for a permit and was denied. But he put up electronic fences with barbed wire and started storing and sorting huge mounds of dirt and concrete anyways. Trucks and tractors have been operating on the site. When wind whips from west to east, as it so often does in Detroit, it sends toxic fugitive dust through the neighborhood. The city has given him 127 blight tickets and he still owes more than $130K of it. The city is now suing him. 

Wikol, who lives in a mansion in suburban Bloomfield Hills, claims that all the construction and demolition debris that is stored on his property has been illegally dumped there by other people. Wikol claims that he has cleaned up that land more than anyone else ever. He claims that he is just trying to create jobs and development in the community. Wikol is trying to control the narrative. Code for lying out of his ass. For the past fifteen months, we have listened to Murray Wikol spread his propaganda to news sites, over and over and over again. Everything's been documented by a professional community organizer named Vanessa - as God is our witness, a sure-as-hell, real-life superhero who just so-happens-to-live a block from Wikol’s toxic shit show.