Living in Texas, I have been surrounded by frequently discouraging news about the attack on public education in particular.

For several years now, representatives have been trying to push vouchers through. They are framed as ‘school choice,’ as if they are some kind of altruistic provision for people of all demographics to have options for where to send their schools.1 What it comes down to, however, is that they are yet another break for the rich and attack on the middle class and poor.

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I am someone who proudly attended a public school from Kindergarten through high school. I loved my experience in a small town in Texas and was given so many opportunities, even as someone with a graduating class of 72.

I was involved in as much as possible, and I look back on my public education experience with fondness, not only for all my extracurricular activities but also for an abundance of wonderful teachers who were brilliant, passionate, and understanding.

Both of my parents — public education all the way through.

I also come from a family of public school teachers who I will shout about from the rooftops — my beloved 92-year-old Granny who taught for 32 years (most of those in 6th grade English in Ballinger, Texas where she and my 96-year-old Grandad still reside), my aunt Andrea who taught high school English for 33 years, my aunt Dru who was a speech therapist in public schools, and multiple cousins still pouring into the lives of students across grades and subjects every day. Not to mention countless friends who love their students well, even in the face of the disrespect from the current administration (take your pick on any which one — city of Houston, state of Texas, or the United States).

And you know what one of the common threads is for most of the towns where my family members and some friends live and work? Public school is the only option.

Public school is the. only. option.

That’s why it is absolutely horrendous to even consider taking away funding from rural areas of Texas where public school is the only option to give to rich people who do not know what it’s like anywhere else. Who are only trying to save money they don’t need to save in order to take desperately needed resources away from those who need it most.

Even as someone who now lives in Houston, Texas with many, many schools, I dream of sending my future kids to public schools one day with the opportunity to grow and thrive just like I did. And I know there are children all across the city who deserve good public schools right here and right now.

Public education is a public good, and it’s terrifying to see people attack it.

Are there some incredibly difficult parts of public education? Sure. Overcrowding? Yes. Underpaid teachers? Without question.

But you know what would help all of the hard parts? MORE FUNDING.

What if we actually valued the work of teachers? What if we actually believed in the power and gifts of school social workers, speech therapists, special education, counselors, and good administration? What if we actually cared about students from every different background, cherished their diversity, and gave attention to trauma-informed spaces and care?

The world would be a more fruitful, loving, and flourishing place, I believe.

It is disheartening, to say the least, to see the blatant attack on public education and disgusting discrediting of education at all.

This should not be a partisan issue. This is a human issue. Aren’t our children supposed to be the ones we’re prioritizing? Or does that just stop at birth?

If you’re anything like me and looking for some small step to take to resist this, I invite you to look at some of these resources.

The final vote on vouchers is this Wednesday, April 16th in Texas.

• Contact your representatives and tell them to VOTE NO ON SB2 by email by clicking the link below.

Texas Freedom Network

• Find out who your representatives are and give them a call.

Who Represents Me?

• Unsure what to say? Totally understandable! Here’s a great sample script by Fellowship Southwest —

• See just how your own school district would be impacted by vouchers.

Don’t Defund My School

• Learn about the work of pastors to defend public education.

Pastors for Texas Children

• Follow James Talarico, former middle school teacher and current Texas state rep.

Watch his video on how vouchers are welfare for the wealthy

In the mean time, I’ll be calling my reps and fighting for public schools. Join me.

in an instant

The diagnosis

The loss

The rejection

The suddenness of it all

Blessed are you who just need a damn second

Don’t they know?

Don’t they see?

Why does everything else keep

spinning, whirling, buzzing

when you can barely move at all?

Blessed are you who walk around with the news written across your forehead

“He left me”

“I miss my dog so much”

“I lost my house”

“She died a month ago today”

“My mom has cancer”

“I had a miscarriage”

You wish it was in permanent marker

Maybe then the world would be a little kinder

Would understand why you’re moving a little slower

Would accommodate how much effort it takes to take the weight off your chest and catch a deep breath these days

Blessed are you in all your grief

In all your tears

In all your screams

Every one of them is counted

Is seen

Is known

In all your anger and sadness and confusion

You are seen

You are known

You are beloved

You are blessed

Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang make me laugh and speak to my heart when I need it most. Several months ago, they had an episode titled ‘Climbing Cringe Mountain’ and it has stuck with me. In it, they talked about how the only way to get where you want to be with your dreams and goals is to continually, vulnerably put yourself out there. Every day, you climb cringe mountain — recognizing the vulnerability of it all and yet knowing that it’s the only way up, the only way forward.

In it, this source of writing itself feels a lot like climbing cringe mountain for me. Without question, I feel a pull to write. I believe that writing matters, and I know how much I value the voices of so many other people through their writing.

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But the lesson I have to keep learning is actually believing my voice matters in this world too.

Though I have loved writing for quite some time, I often think back on when I more freely wrote with a tinge of cringe. I still carry all kinds of fears around a willingness to write.

When I look back at some stuff I’ve written on theology, for example, I shudder a little. My mind has changed so much over the years in how I see God and people. I fear that whatever I write now will not stand the test of time and instead even be used against me in some way.

I fear that whatever I want to say has already been said by someone wiser than me.

I fear, maybe most of all, that I don’t really deserve to put my voice and my thoughts and what I really have learned out there.

Even as someone who has published multiple articles, has two master’s degrees, and literally writes sermons monthly, I carry all these fears with me as I write this right now.

And still I write anyway. And I hope the same for you too. There is room for all voices.

In a nation that is intentionally trying to silence voices right now, it feel so important to remind others that we need them. We need you.

Black voices matter. Queer voices matter. Indigenous voices matter. Immigrant voices matter. Trans voices matter.

And even more than matter, they are beloved. Precious. Absolutely crucial to who we are as the human collective. Their voices and their lives are non-negotiables.

We must listen to one another. We must use our voices now more than ever. An author I love, , put it this way recently—

“Maybe we don’t want to be writers right now.

But we are called to be writers right now, the universe pulling it from our beings—

we must be writers right now, we must roar and cry and plead and laugh our way onto the page.

For ourselves and for each other.”

So all of this is my hope right now. I hope I keep writing, for myself and for others. And I hope you do too. My voice matters. Your voice matters.

Let’s roar and cry and plead and laugh. Let’s climb our way up cringe mountain together, remembering to stop, breathe, and check in along the way.

I imagine it’s been a wild, wild week for Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. She has faithfully served in ministry for over 40 years — writing countless sermons, serving in multiple countries, caring for thousands of congregants, and even authoring multiple books.

She has done the work. She has practiced as a shepherdess for years. And yet there are still people this week who think they have the right the question her qualifications.

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No matter how much we do, no matter how literally and specifically qualified we actually are, men (and women operating with internalized patriarchy) will always find a way to accuse us of somehow being disqualified for leadership.

I read some comments and posts this week that were nothing new, but oh did they make me angry.

Mostly a looooot of quotation marks around “bishop,” “pastor,” and “sermon” — a gross questioning of all of these titles in the name of “being Biblical.”

After reading some specific posts from 1) a pastor who never fails to make all his sermons click bait and 2) a former coworker of mine who’s mad he’s not more famous for being a Calvinist with a beard, I was upset, but then I finally had a breakthrough and just laughed and laughed.

I find it hilarious that so many people think they can question the calling from God on the lives of so many church leaders simply because they are women and LGBTQIA+ affirming.

It is funny.

Is it dangerous and disgusting? Absolutely. But this week, I’ve decided to simply LOL at it.

Their online cold takes are sent out into their own echo chambers. Do I desperately wish young girls, gays, and theys in their congregations (because they are all present in their communities) could hear a more loving message? Of course.

But today, I remember that I have sisters-in-arms and other affirming pastors all over the world who are doing the work. They are pastoring and preaching in the most brilliant, kind, and beautiful ways. They are ministering to sick people in hospitals, caring for bereaved families, baptizing, dedicating babies, presiding over weddings, and showing up. Oh, how they are showing up. And I am, too.

While we might always have white Christian nationalists and conservative fundamentalists who question our qualifications, we just keep doing the work anyway. We know there is too much at stake. Too many lives to be seen. Really seen. Too much pain to be witnessed. So much healing to be a part of. We just keep showing up to the people in front of us. And no one can take that away from us.

And I know that so many women clergy who have come before me have paved the way in all this — they just kept showing up.

Because I know she is one these brave elders, I take heart in the beautiful message of Jesus that was preached on such a national platform from Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. She is a gifted leader, a kind hearted person, and a thoughtful preacher.

I know there are so many people who have been aching for a more loving representation of Christianity, and this week, they saw one. It is my deepest hope that through this little light shining from Bishop Budde that maybe, just maybe, those who have been traumatized by the church might see and hear and know that if they’re still trying to hold onto their faith, they can do it in a more loving, fruitful, inclusive way.

We exist.

And especially as a woman pastor myself, it is a spark of joy to see the love of Jesus preached and a courageous, prophetic word spoken directly into the ears of the President of the United States.

Thank you, Bishop. We need you.

Read the good words of the bishop for yourself if you haven’t already—

“Let me make one final plea, Mr President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.

And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.

Have mercy, Mr President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.

May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.”

- The Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde is the Episcopal bishop of Washington

We’re living in a time during which we often find ourselves forced into labels, backed into corners, pressured into either/ors and all or nothings.

But Jimmy Carter’s life spoke to something wider and more expansive than that.

Andrew Young, the great pastor, Civil Rights leader, US Ambassador to the United Nations, and friend to Jimmy Carter said this—

“Greatness is characterized by antitheses strongly marked. You’ve got to have a tough mind and a tender heart.”

President Carter’s life seemed to be marked by these strong antitheses.

He was a naval officer who worked for deep, worldwide peace in countries all over the world.

He was a Baptist from Plains, Georgia who believed in religious liberty, working for human rights for all.

He was a nuclear engineer who spoke out about climate change before many were talking about it and put solar panels on the White House.

He was even someone who defied cancer, surviving melanoma that spread to his brain after a diagnosis in 2015.

As President Biden said in his remarks, “some say he’s from a bygone era, but I think he was always looking to the future.”

By a quick glance at his labels, one might assume quite a bit about Jimmy Carter. Instead, he kept confounding stereotypes and refused to be stuck in one side of any issue. He believed in bipartisan action, in deep friendship no matter the political affiliation. In knowing that no matter where you come from, it does not define who you will become and also does not necessitate being ashamed.

Most of all, former President Carter was defined by the one label that unites us all — human.

His grandson spoke of how 92 years of his life were spent outside of a powerful political office, and it precisely by that he wanted to be known.

A human — daily practicing his belief in the dignity and respect of every human and the conservation and beauty of the earth.

We see power quite literally engulf the lives of men every day, but Jimmy Carter’s life was filled with humility and kindness. Let us all remember him for this — he did justly, he loved mercy, he walked humbly with his God. May he truly rest in peace.

Rather than blatantly saying, ‘lose 30 pounds!’ now they say, ‘prioritize your wellness.’

Rather than really pinpointing your acne, wrinkles, and blemishes, it’s about ‘confidence.’

Even if it’s presented in a softer way, it’s still about convincing you to change yourself. The beauty industry is a still a multibillion dollar industry. There’s a reason Ozempic and drugs like it have absolutely skyrocketed in the past couple of years.

I am constantly falling prey to the sneaky messaging too. Because of having acne for half my life, my skincare routine is a multistep process. Because of my continued struggle with self-image, I buy clothes far too often.

The marketing that tells you to love yourself and find confidence is still marketing for something. We’re all looking for ways to support small businesses and businesses that are making more ethical choices with their production, the way they treat their employees, and messaging. And it’s crucial that we remember what marketing is really meant to do - make the business money.

All of this is to say — what if you quieted all that messaging for a little while in this new year?

Come away from the posts, the ads, the noise and rest.

And hear this instead—

You don’t need to change your body. You are good as you are.

You don’t need to buy something new to feel better. You are beloved as you are.

You don’t need to make a resolution to find your worth. You are worthy as you are.

I am entering this year feeling tired and sad, not fresh and new. So I’m holding this quote close to my heart for 2025 —

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” -Virginia Woolf

While the rest of the world tells us to better ourselves and change ourselves, I am (trying) (really hard) to believe that I am enough as I am. This year will come with ups and downs. I will make decisions to try new things. I will work on myself again one day.

But for now, for those of us who don’t feel fresh and new, let’s just love ourselves exactly as we are.

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