The Power of 'I Don't Know' | NYTimes.com This is another reason so many writers feel the need to impersonate someone wise or in possession of some marketable truth: it’s a function of insecurity, of fear. If we don’t assume some sort of expertise, why, exactly, should anyone bother reading us, let alone buy our books or invite us to appear on “Fresh Air”? The one thing no editorialist or commentator in any media is ever supposed to say is I don’t know: that they’re too ignorant about . . .

The Prince and I | The Moth LISTEN Smokin’ Hot Wives & Water to the Soul | The Nuance It occurred to me that not once in the entire week did I hear any male leader talk about his smokin’ hot wife. Nor even an Obama-esque gaffe about being “cute” or “good-looking.” And that’s because this obsessive male Christian mentality can’t exist where women are speaking and preaching and leading in the same roles as men, mutually submitted to Christ and each other. Such an environment literally chokes . . .

Harlow's Monkey : Adoption is both/and, not either/or Adoption is not either a family building issue or a big business, it's both/and. Adoption is not the solution or the problem, it's both/and. We can't be focused only on the child or the family, we must be mindful of both. And a child's best interests are not unilaterally separate from the family's and vice versa - the child's best interests can also include the family or community's best interests. Adoption should not be only thought of . . .

  Holy Week for Doubters | Rachel Held Evans There are other people signing words to hymns they’re not sure they believe today, other people digging out dresses from the backs of their closets today, other people ruining Easter brunch today, other people just showing up today. And sometimes, just showing up - burial spices in hand - is all it takes to witness a miracle. NYPD Spy Program Traumatized Muslim Communities | COLORLINES Police officials have denied the human impact of the . . .

And then the conference uninvited me to speak | Jenn Hatmaker With nearly 8 million people leaving the American church a year, we need some renegades closer to the margins, building bridges, creating safe spaces to question, wrestle, rethink. Plenty of churches exist to serve the 20 percent already connected. For them, I am grateful. Enough shepherds are on the ground for those sheep. They have a deep well of leadership, and my absence will not even be felt. They are brothers and sisters, and . . .

  I'd Rather Feel Old Than Feel Fat | Jezebel Hating myself for being fat, when I was young, was paralyzing. Feeling terrified of getting older, at my current age, is galvanizing. It's a different kind of self-hatred. Hatred of fatness is based in cultural norms, which are made-up, but getting old is real. It means something. When you don't know who you are yet, there's constant anxiety that you're doing "you" wrong (i.e. my body itself is what's holding me back). But as soon as you're . . .

  We Shall Race To The Place We Get Out Of The Playground: On Children and the Unbearable Lightness of Friendship | Her Bad Mother It is tempting to say something about how this has worsened in the age of the Internet, during which time friendship has yielded to ‘friending’, but I’m not entirely convinced that this is true. I’ve received much comfort and support from my online friendships; more importantly (because ‘comfort and support’ might be regarded as matters of utility, as . . .

  My Freedom is Bound to Yours |  SheLoves Magazine My privilege goes back to the day I was born as a white Afrikaner baby girl in Apartheid South Africa. It’s my old story, yes, but it has framed how I see and understand the world. From the depths of my own soul, I learned that freedom is not indivisible. We cannot take freedom away from others and expect to keep it for ourselves. Freedom doesn’t work like that. Freedom needs room to breathe and when we close in the walls on others, . . .

A Mother’s Heart | Logan Wolfram We remember what it is to dream again, and suddenly we can see ways to turn a life of street sweeping into a life with glimmers of hope.And there’s something very satisfying about knowing that you’ve accomplished something that without this group would have never been possible. That joining together as women, you can build each other up and make an even greater difference in the lives of your children. And then together, they can make a difference. Together…WE . . .