Friends, it’s been mighty cold. 

This place of light coming through the trees is where I return to, no matter how cold it gets. I am determined to find my way back to this place because it is the place of my dreams. And if you know me, you know I refuse to abandon my dreams. 

Most of the time, the light in the woods is love, and we know that’s no small task. To choose love when the death grip of fear is all around us.

I believe that love is possible because I experience it everywhere. And I feel it in my veins, in my spirit. I see it in the white woman who learns to slow down and care for herself, to lessen her defensiveness. I see it in the patient eyes of a young person who knows that an elder’s wisdom is magic, even if their words are slow and many. I feel it in the grief ritual where individuals can see their collective grief and become more gentle with one another. 

In January, I had 6 days of facilitation, 7 if you count the wild ride to Sarasota, Florida, where I gave my first sermon (starts at 39:43) on Isaiah 58:12. Let’s count it. 

And while these sessions were each unique and particular to the client, they were all about love. 

Because these days we must be about justice, and according to Cornell West, “justice is what love looks like in public.” 

We must see ourselves in a larger future beyond policing and domination, to a tomorrow we hope our children’s children might someday call home. 

I am called to support groups and communities to build the infrastructures and accountability they long for in order to increase safety, belonging and dignity for all. In some cases, we need to rewrite the bylaws, and in some cases, we are creating out of nothing more than magic markers and flip chart paper. 

My ministry is loving and just community building: 

– Spaces where trust can exist and rupture is repaired.

– Honest and just communities and workplaces where power is recognized and managed, massaged into place. Where decision-making processes and culture serve the greater good. 

—  Truth speaking is authentic without being cruel

—  Forgiveness spreads generously, and we remember together so we can make better choices next time

— Expectations are negotiated because we understand ourselves and each other to be imperfect.

— Accountability doesn’t cut like a knife, but swoops in like a barn swallow.

Yesterday, I woke up from a dream before my alarm clock.  I looked out the window, and the light was so perfect, so magical! The dawn transported me to a time before cars. I felt a time before Wi-Fi and electric hot water kettles, before aluminum and spandex. When human beings experienced daylight as magic. I stood in the dawn and reached for the awe of my ancestors. 

How much has happened to us over our centuries as human beings? How much art has been made? Karl Marx wrote the communist manifesto by candlelight. Hilma Af Klimt climbed a ladder and painted her enormous, beautiful paintings by gaslight. Time had a different quality then. No devices, no traffic jams, no patient portals. 

All of this comes flying through me at the sight of the sunrise through the trees across the street. A different pace that belonged to the then times. Maybe a little more room for self-awareness, fewer distractions from grief, creativity, and God.

This is what the Sabbath is about. Not just a Luddite fantasy. In my coaching group for white people, one of the most consistent pieces of feedback I get is that people are grateful for the time set aside to journal and ask themselves questions about their leadership. The many challenges of slowing down, how white supremacy grabs every moment and steals us from ourselves. 

You have some control over your frenzy. Zoom out to 2026, the fullness of the remaining 328 days. What do you most want there to be space for in your weekly and monthly routine? Fridays off so that you can work on your memoir? The week off so you can play with your granddaughter or go to Greece? The late Monday mornings that give you a slow start to the week so you can work on those poems? You get the drill. 

Go forward in your calendar and carve that time out. Choose a lovely color. 47% of Americans are leaving some PTO on the table. Place the rocks around the fire pit, prepare the mulch. This is your time. This is your life. The time to plan your time off is now. 

Find your light in the woods. Protect it. You’re not here simply to feed the machine.

My February offer! All gender white people coaching group, New Ancestors, begins March 24th. 

• Center collective liberation in your life and work without alienating the crap out of everyone 
• Build sustainable practices into your day-to-day living through art and self-expression 
• Imagine your life with more spaciousness and deeper rootedness in community
• Learn tools for calling in when folks fall short 
• Explore defensiveness and perfectionism

New Ancestors is a 12-week commitment with group and individualized coaching. No one turned away for lack of funds. Register before March 1st and get 10% off! Let's talk.

Let me be the light in the woods for you; let's learn to be the light in the woods for each other.

Poem of the Month

Rock Me, Mercy

By YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA

The river stones are listening

because we have something to say.

The trees lean closer today.

The singing in the electrical woods

has gone dumb. It looks like rain

because it is too warm to snow.

Guardian angels, wherever you're hiding,

we know you can't be everywhere at once.

Have you corralled all the pretty wild

horses? The memory of ants asleep

in daylilies, roses, holly, & larkspur.

The magpies gaze at us, still

waiting. River stones are listening.

But all we can say now is,

Mercy, please, rock me.

Provocations and Nourishment

The House of Small Cubes (La Maison en Petits Cubes) - Kunio Kato & Kenji Kondo

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How Authoritarian Disinformation Works - by Scot Nakagawa

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The Top Regrets People Have at the End of Their Lives | No Story Lost Books Inc.

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 Check out the supremely funny and glorious Jeff Harry Ted Talk

"Beyond Hierarchy: How Play Can Heal the Division Between Us." 

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How Justice-Rooted Organizations Can Respond to the Racial Justice and Equity Backlash | Nonprofit Quarterly

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Fighting Forward: Free speech, due process, and belonging in a time of fear

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Hammer & Hope: A Magazine of Black Politics and Culture. I subscribed immediately! ☺️

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Upcoming Opportunities

Support makers of color by subscribing to my Subscription to Love & Justice. $18 a month gets you four lovely seasonal boxes containing a book and a range of delicious and whimsical items created by people of color. 

See an unpacking video here. 

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Friends! How can we sustain our hearts in this moment? How are we supposed to be a people manager in this day and age? How to hold the both and of a violent destabilized world and the need to show up to work and do some things! New Ancestors Coaching Group begins March 24th. Check it out here or Email me! 

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AORTA’s latest offerings are here. Facilitation skills for liberation, baby!
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The Art and Ethics of Historical Storytelling—a deep dive into how to balance creative artistry with responsible history. 

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Leading for Engagement is a space to develop the practical skills to guide groups effectively in online spaces, whether meetings or training

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Toward Justice,

Evangeline

 Please forward this blog to any of your friends working to build more just communities and organizations.