I’m guessing that you’ve heard the ancient Greek aphorism “know thyself.” Socrates expanded on that advice—an unexamined life is not...

While we can all be anti-poverty activists, contemplation should inform our actions. One question I considered was “What constitutes a...

Thanks to Mary, a reader and mental health professional, we are going to add to our understanding of housing as an important anti-poverty...

I attended a local fund-raising event two or three years ago. The event was a concert. I became intrigued by watching what appeared to be...

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was formerly called the Food Stamp Program. The Food Stamp Program began in 1939...

As we went through the food line, we discovered that the main dish was pizza at Holland’s Community Kitchen. We were asked for how many...

Contemplation is long, hard thinking about something. We’re told that contemplation is good for us. An Aha! moment might even result from...

Contemplation is long, hard thinking about something. We’re told that contemplation is good for us. An Aha! moment might even result from...

Justice is what happens when we display just behavior to others. JUST is defined as what is morally right and fair. Justice is...

Alice isn’t 5’ 6.” Her smile doesn’t light up a room. That’s because Alice is a report. As reports go, ALICE is impressive in its scope...

This is an email I received from one of our clan. Jack, I am grateful to be able to share in your thoughts and ideas regarding these dear...

Poverty must be solved at the national, state and local levels. There is hope at all three levels. The first book that persuaded me to be...

A basic moral test of society is how its most vulnerable members are faring. It is clear that we are failing that test. January is...

Just before Christmas the weekly email from Sojourners arrived. The article was titled Be Not Afraid and it was written by Jim Wallis,...

She was standing in the bitter cold on the corner between Goodwill and Crazy Horse Restaurant, placing her weight on one foot and then...

I hadn’t seen Liz in years before we reconnected over coffee last week. If I was forced to summarize her life story in three words, those...

Last week I suggested that poverty is often invisible to us (tent cities). On the flip side, poverty can be highly visible. During a...

Several years ago, when I began studying poverty, I asked Sister Pat Lamb of Saint Francis De Sales Church to lunch. I had taken a...

We have been discussing ways to find compassion for the poor. In previous weeks I suggested that our own family’s history might give us...

In the last two posts, I described paths to finding compassion for the poor. One path could come from your family history and another was...