I’m convinced that food connects us to a place. It’s something we do at least two or three times a day given our time and resources. Or, if you’re still in school, Taco Bell at two in the morning may or may not count. But that’s for another time.

Julia was the quintessential Christian in high school; her peers even nicknamed her Julia Christ Superstar. But what happens to someone like this when complexities of the world and ambiguities of faith led her to bigger questions, to a place where “just believe” doesn’t cut it anymore?

When living in community you’re forced to deal with the full spectrum of the human condition. Whether intentional or circumstantial, community plays an important part in our stories. And for the most part there’s not much drama, just dishes.

Like Mary Magdalene, Jesus calls women by name, to serve God. This is God coming for us specifically as females, calling us to lay claim to evangelicalism ourselves — our important role in the in-breaking of God’s kingdom into the world — no matter what our religious affiliation or belief system.

Attending a mostly white evangelical College as an African American male with roots in the historic Black church resulted in a paradoxical shift in my Christian faith. It was a time that I matured spiritually while simultaneously growing increasingly disillusioned with evangelicalism.

There are very few certainties in life. Sometimes you’ve just got to jump in with wanton disregard for certainty, and instead, just take a risk. It’s often through this kind of struggle and risk-taking that we discover the most rewarding relationships.

Over the last few weeks we have tried to work as best as we could to help set up a private discussion between the Catholic church and the LGBT activist group. That private discussion never happened – and it wasn’t because The Marin Foundation wasn’t willing.

The achievement gap between rich and poor is divided along both socioeconomic and racial lines, and too many of our children are receiving less help instead of more despite the given hurdles they face growing up in poverty. This is more than just a broken systems issue; this is a moral issue. Education is the civil rights issue of our generation.

I love the word heirloom. The word is defined as an object or product of great value that has belonged to a family for several generations. It denotes to me a certain quality of humble characteristics. It makes me think about tomatoes. It also makes me think about the relationships that have changed me.