American Wealth: Hope, Opportunity & Resilience

[Image via englishspeecheschannel.com] “Always do what you are afraid to do.” Ralph Waldo Emerson By: Gabriela Yareliz There was a JFK essay contest in high school. We learned about it through a newspaper we would read in English class. Those cute papers that had poems and featured other peer writing. I wanted in, and IContinue reading “American Wealth: Hope, Opportunity & Resilience”

American Wealth: Cowboys & Tupperware

By: Gabriela Yareliz The United States is known for its entrepreneurial spirit. This idea of taking risks to build or expand something, even if the outcome is uncertain. Name a country that has more group or multi-level marketing businesses than the U.S. of A. By this, I mean companies like Mary Kay, Avon (both sellContinue reading “American Wealth: Cowboys & Tupperware”

Testy

By: Gabriela Yareliz I am currently reading Harvard Economist Peter Navarro’s book In Trump Time: My Journal of America’s Plague Year. The book documents his notes and journal entries throughout his time in the past administration, specifically regarding his time on the task force when COVID-19 came onto the scene. It details discussions with FauciContinue reading “Testy”

American Wealth: Freedom & Rebellion

“Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Benjamin Franklin By: Gabriela Yareliz It’s Independence Day. A day that reminds us that a ragtag bunch with a burning passion and insatiable desire for liberty can prevail. We have grown in this country to value duty, courage and sacrifice. This moving WW2 veteran has gone viral. HisContinue reading “American Wealth: Freedom & Rebellion”

The Same Voyage

By: Gabriela Yareliz I watched Bon Voyage (Jean-Paul Rappeneau). It had been years since I had seen the film. It is one of intrigue. One where the upper class and average French life collides as the Germans are invading France. You see government officials in their reasoning for fleeing and surrendering, you see German spies,Continue reading “The Same Voyage”

Olvido

By: Gabriela Yareliz I heard Erwin McManus say that when cultures do not change, they repeat behaviors. We see this in how the world operates. Political systems showcase this. Just the other day, I was looking at an article in The New Yorker which reminded me of the Pacto del Olvido (the pact to forget),Continue reading “Olvido”

Bonhoeffer’s Journal

Even while being a minister playing games to escape the attention of the Nazi government while at the same time provoking them, Bonhoeffer kept a journal. This is how we know so much about his thoughts as he traveled, escaped trouble, landed in trouble, was imprisoned, met people and studied Scripture. This was a timeContinue reading “Bonhoeffer’s Journal”

Genocide Games

By: Gabriela Yareliz The Beijing 2022 Olympics begin in February. World governments have taken weak stances on China, a power that has no problem killing its own people, en masse. As we play around with diplomatic incompetence, there is a continual genocide being perpetrated against religious minorities, which includes the Uyghurs “who are a TurkicContinue reading “Genocide Games”

Leadership

“Where books are burned, they will, in the end, burn people, too.” Heinrich Heine By: Gabriela Yareliz I write this in reflection of what we have been witnesses to, in the past two years. I won’t pretend to be some brave crusader, as I recognize in retrospect that in important moments, my dissent was aContinue reading “Leadership”

Eyes On You

By: Gabriela Yareliz Welcome to another day. A new variant. A new state of emergency. More fear being vomited onto us. (If only we reacted to it as the vomit that it is). That’s what seems to be heaped on us, like a bad record on repeat. It’s the day after the worst day ofContinue reading “Eyes On You”