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Year End Reflections on Critical Conversations

Year End Reflections on Critical Conversations

by | Dec 27, 2022 | , ,

As 2022 comes to an end, I reflect with a grateful heart on this opportunity to connect with you and others through Critical Conversations. In this post, I’d like to share a little about how Critical Conversations came to be what it is, and to thank you – the readers, and the team of guest contributors, editors and technical supporters  – who make this post possible. My life is enriched with love and joy by notes and comments from readers, from the courage and insights of guest contributors, and the generosity and talent of my friends who edit and assist in the weekly writing of Critical Conversations. Many blessings in 2023 to each of you!

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Faith, Holidays and Holy Days

Faith, Holidays and Holy Days

by | Dec 20, 2022 |

Inclusion and freedom mean we all get to decide what we believe. These are important ideas as this time of year is full of many different traditions, beliefs and customs. Today, I’d like to reflect on why faith and my Christian faith are important to me in approaching the year-end holidays and holy days.

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Lessons in Racial Justice: Goals, Strategies and Training

Lessons in Racial Justice: Goals, Strategies and Training

by | Dec 6, 2022 |

Recently I was given a book, Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968.  The author, Thomas E Ricks, is described as “the dean of military correspondents.” He has authored numerous books about military wars including First Principles, The Generals and Fiasco. My initial reaction was to pause and wonder if I could enjoy a book that used the lessons of war to describe the civil rights movement. That concern turned out to be ill-founded. I recommend this book because of its many lessons that seem quite relevant to our ongoing efforts to end racial injustice.

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More about Love and Loving

More about Love and Loving

by | Nov 29, 2022 |

The holiday season is a wonderful time to explore how we experience love. Families remind us of the presence of love and where our aspirations to love fall short. This post is a start at sharing some of my ideas and beliefs about love and loving.

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Married for Life: Exploring Love

Married for Life: Exploring Love

by | Nov 15, 2022 |

Kathy died. I knew she was going to.  I had known for almost a week.  She had suffered a series of strokes over her last month. The last was a major brain bleed that killed her brain.  Over the course of that week, she lost all brain function and eventually died. I knew she was going to die, and I surprised myself at how calm I was during that week. It wasn’t until she died that I came apart. Somehow, as long as she was alive I knew I would be as strong as I could.

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Learning to Love

Learning to Love

by | Nov 1, 2022 |

Love is God’s way of sharing God’s self with His creation.  God’s love permeates all that is known and unknown.  When the human element enters, love becomes more complicated.  We are called to love as God loves, yet because of our sinfulness, we fall short.  My journey of learning to love and being loved has been a long and arduous trek.  It is comforting for me to know that the One who created me is also the One who loves me unconditionally.  Other people might want to substitute Higher Power or another name for the divine.

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IOWA BYZANTIUM FOREWORD

IOWA BYZANTIUM FOREWORD

by | Oct 25, 2022 |

I met Doris about 45 years ago, at a fiction workshop I was teaching.  We became friends and literary peers. She then became part of  small women’s writing group of which I was a member, and we met regularly for a number of years, hearing and responding to each other’s work.  We were always struck by Doris’s sensitive, evocative and psychologically acute fiction. 

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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.