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A Letter from Spain, Part II: Unaffordable housing—a different kind of violence?

A Letter from Spain, Part II: Unaffordable housing—a different kind of violence?

In my earlier post, I wrote about how living in Spain has shown me what personal safety actually feels like—the absence of a fear of guns and road violence, a fear I’d carried for decades without realizing it. My granddaughter rides her bicycle to school. We all walk home in the dark. No one is armed. No one will get kidnapped by masked government agents. But there’s another kind of violence here, quieter, and I’m complicit in it simply by being able to afford what young Spaniards cannot.

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Gratitude and Reparations: Beginning to Understand the Greenbelt Story

Gratitude and Reparations: Beginning to Understand the Greenbelt Story

Editor’s Note: The reflections below come from my personal experience as a member of the Greenbelt Reparations Commission, created after a 2021 citizen referendum directing the City Council to form a 21-person body to “review, discuss, and make recommendations related to reparations for African-American and Native American residents of Greenbelt.” These views are mine alone and do not represent the Commission.

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Freedom, Faith and No Kings

Freedom, Faith and No Kings

After the “No Kings” rally in DC, my wife and I stopped for a cup of coffee before we moved on to the Light the Night rally for Blood Cancers United. As we were outside reading, sipping our coffee, a young man came up to me and asked what I was reading. It so happened that I was reading a book on spiritual transformation. He was an inquisitive and cordial man of 23 and he mentioned that he had been reading Søren Kierkegaard, who has much to say about the human spirit. But he also mentioned that he was an atheist, but presumed I was a Christian. We soon moved on to the No Kings rally and the threat to democracy it was trying to counter. He then stated that he was not so much in favor of democracy. He didn’t think the masses could be trusted to govern themselves well. 

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What Safety Actually Feels Like: A Letter from Spain

What Safety Actually Feels Like: A Letter from Spain

For six weeks now, my family has been living in Benajarafe, a small coastal town near Málaga, where you can walk to the Mediterranean in five minutes. Every morning, I walk our nine-year-old granddaughter to school. Every afternoon, we walk home. Some Fridays, we stop for ice cream. Sometimes we detour for a quick bike ride or jump on a swing on the beach before dinner. She’s learning to ride her bicycle on these streets, and I’m not terrified watching her.

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Who’s Our Neighbor?

Who’s Our Neighbor?

On September 28, Catholics in Washington DC held the 111th Day of Migrant and Refugees Mass.* This faith celebration followed a 1.9 mile march of over 1,000 people from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church, the neighborhood parish which is home to many immigrants, to the St. Matthew the Apostle cathedral in downtown Washington DC.  

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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.