I was filled with pain and hate over a brutal crime. My path to freedom began with meditation, and ended at a Texas prison
BY TOM HUDGENS, episode 1 (of 5) — Thirty years ago a man named John Black* raped and murdered my sister. In May, I visited him in prison and told him [...]

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I made a commitment to a spiritual practice before facing my “enemy”
BY TOM HUDGENS, episode 2 (of 5)  — “John Black is very eager for this meeting.”
That was the short and simple email I received from Rick Warr, a mediator with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who was arranging for me to meet John [...]

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When I first met my “enemy,” I recognized him instantly. Then I leaned within inches of his face to hear his apology
BY TOM HUDGENS, episode 3 (of 5) — It took a half-hour to drive to Chesterson Unit, the prison in Huntsville, Texas that has housed my sister’s killer, John Black,* for thirty years.
Rick Warr, [...]

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I asked for complete honesty — however painful he thought it might be for me.
BY TOM HUDGENS, episode 4 (of 5) — Not that long ago, I would never have believed that I would be here: Sitting face to face with John Black, the man who raped and killed my sister in 1978, chatting with [...]

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‘I can accept what happened,’ I told my sister’s killer. ‘Today, in this moment, I can wish you well’
BY TOM HUDGENS, final episode — When you took my sister’s life, I told the killer himself as we sat in a stark room in a Texas prison, there were, amazingly, seven people who considered [...]

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How a prayer circle, and a kitchen fire, led to a powerful Aha! Moment

BY SUEANN JACKSON-LAND — Every other Saturday morning my friend Kim picks me up to join the Elgin Street Mission Breakfast Club, a group comprised of  women who serve food at a local soup kitchen. Our captain is Debbie, an energetic woman [...]

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Western apathy about Aids in Africa can be changed into action via personal stories
BY CASSANDRA MINO — Thanks to high profile celebrities such as Bono, and Bill and Melinda Gates, most North Americans are aware that there is an AIDS crisis in Africa. However, I am certain that most people living outside of the [...]

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A post-modern mystic describes how she learned to accept — and appreciate — financial ruin, homelessness, and terminal illness
GUEST COLUMN: VAISHALI — I have had to start over so many times in so many aspects of my life, you’d think that ‘Square One’ was my mailing address. I’m sure we at least share the same zip code. I have [...]

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As the fear on Wall Street panics every holder of American stocks, here is a lesson from the Great Depression: Our grandparents weren’t left behind by their community, family or friends.
GUEST COLUMN: SHERYL KARAS — What is your greatest source of wealth in a Depression? A dependable day job? Gold coins stashed under your mattress? [...]

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From Plymouth to John Wayne westerns, white Americans have put Native Indians between a rock and a hard place. This Thanksgiving I’m joining a festival to honor what they’ve given, and lost
GUEST COLUMN: DANNY KENNY — In the twilight slumber of Thanksgiving morning, the first boat moors at “The Rock” and the “tired and weary” [...]

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Optimism blossoms amid the horror that is Darfur, even without Angelina Jolie

BY AMY LEASK — Crises in other countries often come to my attention by way of biased media accounts, or through celebrity crusades like Angelina Jolie’s whatever, in wherever, spot news. The Translator, however, is different. This book is written from the inside — [...]

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