The Unclad Soul

There are words from Brandi Carlile’s song, “The Story,” that I might sing, and perhaps you, too. “All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to” You don’t have to be single or alone to feel the depth of those words. Someone in a longtime marriage or relationship might feel them, too. The voyage through life takes each one of us through an assortment of experiences. Some of them ennoble us. Some crush us. Some lift us beyond ourselves and carry us into the lives of those who need us. And some carry us to those we need. Some experiences are burdens. Others ease and encourage us. Some leave us baffled and unsure. Some build confidence within us and are so affirming that we grow in substance, in courage, in tenderness, and sympathy. As we age, the lines in our faces can represent the hurts we have not yet resolved. Or t

The Republican hypocrisy of Texas governor Greg Abbott and Florida governor Ron DeSantis has now reached such levels of contempt and indignity that both should be run out of office. Both governors have made wild threats to local school boards, administrators, and teachers for wanting to keep their faculties and students safe. They are forbidding mask mandates and other safety measures for schools, which ought to be the legal choice of any local community. At the same time, Abbott and DeSantis are asking the federal government for help with the Covid virus and its variants. Both Texas and Florida are running out of medical staff and ICU space to handle the growing increase of Covid patients. Somewhere in all of this voters have to decide if they want to live in a country where political leaders actually govern in the best interests of their citizens, or if they want to be ruled by political lightweights and grandstanders who cater to elite investors in their political fortunes but manip