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Al-Anon at 75 – Vital Lessons for Addressing our World Addiction Crisis

Al-Anon at 75 – Vital Lessons for Addressing our World Addiction Crisis

by | Apr 21, 2026 |

Seventy-five years ago tomorrow, April 22, 1951, Lois Wilson hosted a lunch at her Stepping Stones home for the wives of A.A. members from the U.S. and Canada attending the A.A. General Service Conference in NY, her neighbor and friend Anne Bingham and other wives of local and regional members of “wives’ groups”. This little-known meeting was the first step towards a Clearing House, the precursor of the Al-Anon Family Groups, a world-wide Twelve Step fellowship for families and friends of people with drinking problems. 

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Expanding Play in Tough Times

Expanding Play in Tough Times

by | Apr 14, 2026 |

It’s not hard to see the tensions between a life committed to love and justice for all and one focused on destroying enemies and protecting the few. Easter Sunday 2026 offered one of the clearest pictures of this contradiction. This post is about the importance of play in a world in distress.

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Connecting Spring Hope with Action

Connecting Spring Hope with Action

by | Apr 7, 2026 | ,

A few days ago, I joined other Christians in celebrating Easter. Whether through faith or nature or personal choices, spring is for many a time of hope. Depending of course on where you live, “spring” may begin at different times of the year. Today’s reflections are about the connection between hope and action. This post is in part a response to the challenge in last week’s piece Anchoring Joy by A. Adar Ayira on how joy is a different experience for Black people than white people.

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ANCHORING JOY

ANCHORING JOY

by | Mar 31, 2026 |

When U.S.-born Black people speak, write, commune on the topic of JOY with similar backgrounded strangers, family, and friends, our conversations share a common societal overlay: the magic of BLACK JOY; that Joy that is legacy and heritage born of pain, hope, struggle, and impossible odds. The conversation is bound in that context, as it is this history that Black people tend to reference and in which we tend to anchor our Joy.

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Rethinking Our Heroes on St. Patrick’s Day

Rethinking Our Heroes on St. Patrick’s Day

by | Mar 17, 2026 |

Today, many in the US and elsewhere pause to honor a Christian saint, St. Patrick. Faith is only part of the robust celebrations. People of all faiths and of none enjoy the parades, the celebrations, and the revelry that go with St. Patrick’s Day, a cultural as well as a religious holiday. My post today reflects on my experience of this special day and how it has helped shape my notions about heroes.

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Life Sings in the Tension

Life Sings in the Tension

by | Mar 10, 2026 |

“It’s a crummy world out there, and if you don’t know it, we’ll give you a field trip.  It’s a beautiful world out there, and if you don’t know it, we’ll give you a field trip.  When I wake up, I’m not sure if I’m called to save it, or savor it. I stretch that tension– until life sings.” (unknown source)

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Letters from Spain: A Humane Approach to Immigration

Letters from Spain: A Humane Approach to Immigration

by | Feb 17, 2026 |

Editor’s Note: This week’s post offers additional reflections from friend and retired nonprofit leader, Greg Cantori. Greg and his family moved from Baltimore to Spain in 2025. In this post, he shares how Spain is approaching immigration and “regularizing” people already there. While the country sizes are different; Spain’s approach offers a fresh possibility as our nation avoids the work of developing a just and win-win immigration policy and focuses on unwarranted punishment and cruel, fear-based enforcement of flawed policies.

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About Tom Adams

Tom AdamsTom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.