In her recent essay on this “Feminism and Religion” site, Ivy Helman wrote: “Over the past few months, I’ve been struggling to write posts. This month is no different. I am currently sitting with four different half-drafts on three semi-related… Read More ›
I have a vivid childhood memory of being sick with the stomach flu and standing in the doorway of my parents’ bedroom looking for my mother. Her care for sick children was tender and thorough. She would bring us ginger… Read More ›
The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes… This speech (Act IV, scene 1) from The… Read More ›
A gift from author Isabella Ides: Hello FARsighters!! This is more of an announcement than an article. My novel, WHITE MONKEY CHRONICLES, which has been reviewed by Elizabeth Cunningham on the FAR site, will be offered for FREE for five days, Oct 1st through… Read More ›
When we meet our deep brown eyes mirror a mutual need for light to penetrate human darkness. Your eyes are wary and fearful; Mine hunger for your touch. I cry out softly “Don’t be afraid… I love you”. We share… Read More ›
As the American Embassy was bombed in 1999, I was hunkered in a Russian Orthodox Church, gazing at the brooding, whitewashed faces of icons, hands raised in endlessly frightening benediction. Hundreds of men met my eye, as I found myself… Read More ›
On the eve of the Jewish Sabbath and the start of Rosh Hashanah, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg breathed her last breath. She was 87. She fought so hard for so long. She is an American patriot, hero, champion… Read More ›
All through my childhood a self-portrait, painted by my mother hung above my parents’ bed. I was fascinated by this image of the stern face of my very beautiful mother with her long wavy chestnut hair. In the painting my… Read More ›
My sense of direction is, at best, poor. In spite of that, I love a road trip. With the advent of affordable GPS (Global Positioning System) devices, driving long distances has become easier. Unfortunately, that tool (GPS) is not always… Read More ›
Content Warning: Mention of childhood abuse, abandonment, suicide, trauma and death. I am a successful product of child abandonment. Raised in an abusive home, my mother left when I was in 7th grade. From that point on, I spent an… Read More ›
I have just returned from the brook where I offered up my Toad Moon prayers to the song of the Hermit thrush and to the rippling waters – first honoring my body with a poem written just for her, and… Read More ›
Friends, it has been a few months since I’ve posted in this community. I’m amazed at how much our world has changed since then. Here in the northern hemisphere, spring came and went. It felt like a tide of turmoil… Read More ›
The ideas that here follow are an effort to organize insights from meditation practice over the past several months. I submit them to FAR not because they are particularly profound or even well-developed but because I am, as everyone is, navigating… Read More ›
It’s true. I don’t mean to make you jealous, but lately, I have at least one long session of really great crying most days. What I call the “lovely cry,” where my face gets all red and swollen and puffy,… Read More ›
As I write this in late June, the news is still pretty depressing. Pandemic. Politics. Corruption. No no no. I can’t write anything current and cheery, so here’s another bit of distracting nonsense from my so-called archive. Back in the… Read More ›
About six months ago I was hired to write a curriculum for a Jewish organization on biblical women in ancient and contemporary midrash. Midrash—the ancient process of creative interpretation of sacred text that began two thousand years ago and continues… Read More ›
— for Alex, a nurse I met who is also a poet, and all nurses I heard that you are a poet and a nurse. I imagine all the nurses who also are something else—a chef, a Mom,… Read More ›
When I wrote Murder at the Rummage Sale, my agent warned: “You have to have a sequel in mind!” I was supposed to write a second domestic cozy, same setting, same characters, different victim. But what came to mind was… Read More ›
I woke up this morning with a terrible itch in my mind. I want to sue the government. I’m not a lawyer, at least not yet, and I know that governments have sovereign immunity that typically prevents them from being… Read More ›
For the past four Sunday afternoons, I’ve walked along Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, to observe firsthand the changes happening to the statues of Confederate generals placed there a century or so ago. I focus here on the Robert E…. Read More ›
“I think you should take medication for anxiety.” This was my doctor’s response when I calmly listed my Covid symptoms, which had been going on for a month and had landed me in Urgent Care twice and the ER twice,… Read More ›
In the midst of recent events and protests, a social media campaign entitled #sharethemicnow has emerged. The campaign asked white people and people of influence to use their platforms, quiet their voices, and highlight, heighten, and listen to their Black… Read More ›
We’ve all seen it on Social Media – the hair. Wild hair. Unkempt hair. Grey hair. #Quarantinehairdontcare. Covid19 has changed it all up. No more regular hair appointments and in turn, hair around the world is out of control. I’ve… Read More ›
When He comes I forget who I am. My story vanishes. Boundaries dissolve. Emerald green, leaf filtered light, clear mountain streams, trees, lichens, moss – become ‘all there is’. In the still dawning animals speak. Nature’s ultimate gift is… Read More ›
A Ladder to the Stars Every evening at twilight she climbs a ladder to the stars… Venus is her guide … As the Evening star (who also rises at dawn) this Goddess of Love is her Muse. As a woman… Read More ›
As Pride Month and Black Lives Matter protests co-exist, the spirituality of queer women of color teaches white allies how to listen. After nearly eighty days of sheltering in place, I feel like I’ve stepped out and found the world… Read More ›
List for today: Rescue tadpoles from the evaporating puddle in the driveway. Look for pink roses in the field. Look for wild strawberries along the road. Listen to the crows in the compost pile and try to identify them by… Read More ›
Scene: A comfy lecture hall in the temple on the summit of Mount Olympus. The feminist historians have taken their seats. The eldest Olympians rise to speak. Let us attend to their words. I am Hera, Queen of All, Daughter… Read More ›
As a feminist, I have learned how important it is to limit the scope of my claims to a reasonable space, demarcated by some genuine historical or current investment, connection, or participation. There are many things in this world about… Read More ›
“Love is patient, love is kind.” – 1 Cor 13:4. I think it was either Simone de Beauvoir or Betty Friedan who mentioned we live in a “sea of hostility.” Mainly it is the comment section of almost any post… Read More ›
