“It could not have come at a better time,” Joseph Gerson, longtime peace and disarmament activist, responding to the Hibakusha...
Waking Up to the Threat of Nuclear War
“It could not have come at a better time,” Joseph Gerson, longtime peace and disarmament activist, responding to the Hibakusha as the winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for their activism directed at banning nuclear [...]
Pat Taub
Thank You’s I Never Got to Deliver
What if you had a chance to pose lingering questions to important people in your life who are now deceased? Poet Victoria Chang did this very thing, writing letters to her deceased parents, which she compiled into the book, “Dear Memory.” Chang, in trying to come to terms with her sketchy knowledge of her parents’ upbringing [...]
Pat Taub
What Happened to Us?
GUEST POST by MARY DUNN One hundred years ago in 1924 a Zionist paramilitary defense force, the Haganah, proclaimed the role of protecting the newly formed communities of Jewish settlers in Palestine. Their slogan, “Judaea was lost by blood and fire and will rise again by blood and fire” continues to direct Zionist ideology all these years [...]
Pat Taub
Want Inner Peace: Practice Soul Care
In today’s frantic world, inner peace can feel unattainable, but it’s not all that elusive if you practice soul care. Living soulfully involves developing practices that lead to a life of integrity and deep meaning. When your soul come alive, your world lights up, transporting you to another dimension. You feel one with the universe. [...]
Pat Taub
Wrestling with Ego
This past weekend I was visited by my brother and his wife, who are doing their best to live fully with my brother’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis. After they drove away, and I reflected on their visit, I was struck by how many times I passed judgment for my brother’s difficulty restraining his hyper-behavior and for my sister-in-law’s [...]
Pat Taub
When Israelis Kill Americans
GUEST POST by JANET WEIL “If you harm an American, we will respond.” – President Joe Biden, February 2024 The young woman had large brown eyes and a wide smile. She had a cause: solidarity with Palestine. But unlike the young Palestinian women murdered by Israel over the last 11 months, there was something different about her. Aysenur [...]
Pat Taub
When Genocide Becomes Normalized
Caitlin Johnstone, the prophetic Australian blogger, lamented in a recent post that the genocide in Gaza has become normalized for most Americans who tend to react with a fleeting comment, like, “It’s horrible,” and then go about their lives, where Gaza is a mere footnote. Johnstone challenges us to open our eyes to the propaganda [...]
Pat Taub
Growth Through Vulnerability
Being vulnerable is generally defined as speaking and acting in a way that involves a risk where the outcome is unpredictable. For this reason, many take pains to avoid being vulnerable rather than chance receiving disapproval and rejection. This limited perspective overlooks the enormous benefits of being vulnerable. Abigail Thomas, the [...]
Pat Taub
Listening to Elders
The passing down of elder wisdom is an honored tradition among cultures like the Natives Americans and the Japanese where elders are sought out for their sage advice. Unfortunately, this intergenerational exchange rarely happens in America’s youth-obsessed culture, which devalues elders and their lived experiences. But as more Americans [...]
Pat Taub
Facing My Fears of Death
About seven months ago my beloved younger brother phoned to inform me he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He assured me he was accepting of his diagnosis, adding that he and his wife had applied for companion-assisted suicide at the point when his memory loss makes it difficult for him to function. Once I got over the shock of my brother’s [...]
Pat Taub
Gaza’s Forgotten Children
I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality where the mounting deaths, grave injuries and trauma experienced by Gaza’s children are barely reported. What makes headlines are soft stories like the Olympics, a largely substance-free Presidential campaign, the Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez drama while the nightmare in Gaza continues at [...]
Pat Taub