Tom Adams
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“Democracy prevailed.” – These words spoken on Inauguration Day by our new president, Joe Biden, offered us hope. Indeed, January 20th was a great day for those of us who are hoping for change. President Biden, Vice President Harris and three former presidents filled...
What the hell is going on? How did it happen? What needs to be done? What’s mine to do? “I don’t know” is the most honest answer. America is facing critical questions that deserve more than superficial, simple theories and quick fixes to return to the appearance of...
The 2020 Presidential Election is in its home stretch. If Joe Biden wins, January will bring fresh hope for many of us along with a long period of individual and collective discomfort and chaos as we explore this new beginning together with those who voted for the...
The Scripture passage “Love your neighbor as yourself” has been haunting me lately. You may be more familiar with its cousin: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” How are love of others and self-love connected and possible in such divisive times? This...
Today is my birthday and it seemed like a great time to share about the blessings of new birth and grandchildren (see Love, Shalem Friday Blog). That plan got upended when a friend sent me a clip a week ago about the murder of Jonathan Price by a police officer in...
Welcome to Critical Conversations, a weekly blog and resource website (thadams.com) I am launching today. It becomes more obvious every day that we need to connect with each other across our differences if our communities and world will ever heal. My intention in...
“We need each other. Race matters. We need each other. Black lives matter.” And what is mine to do? That question is for me the most important and hardest. It is the question Francis of Assisi, the saint the current Pope chose to be named after, asked of his friends...
“We need each other. Race matters. We need each other.” And each day I learn more about what “Black Lives Matter” means. At its most fundamental, watching George Floyd be choked to death brings home the importance of respect for every life. And it goes so much deeper....
Rose Mary Dougherty, in her days leading groups at Shalem, had a favorite parable she came back to often. With her charming Irish smile, she would ask: “Why do the antelope walk side by side in the jungle?” And after letting that settle for a short moment, she would...
Learning about race and racism is uncomfortable. Race relations in America are a mess. Each day, I see some other aspect of racism – both mine and the larger world’s I hadn’t noticed before. Like many white people, I am waking up to a reality it has been all too easy...
Tom 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.