I wasn't going to Shield my children from the violence of this world, because I don't want to shield them from an even bigger reality; light always breaks Darkness. Love defies hatred when we stand alongside our neighbors and say “No More”, to violence.

Refusing to acknowledge the historical trauma of those around us is a cultural tradition many of us have been handed down, generation to generation forming our foundation of erasing wrongs so we don't have to right them. But we can change these traditions and narratives. The world can change, because we can change. I have so much hope for you. I have so much hope for me.

The amount of violence against another human being we're willing to accept is a litmus test for our own freedom.

I don’t want my kids to hold an anemic love in their hands, to feel lost or victimized in a big, scary world. I want them to experience their power that resides in their little bodies and expresses itself in quiet, small words to defy hate and violence.

Waging peace requires that we have the courage to face what's broken first- in ourselves-and then in the system affecting those around us and uncover who has been harmed and how we are connected to them.

Coming home from War as a peacemaker created a battlefield I wasn't prepared for.

Violence isn't waged only with guns, or war. Words can be violent, and so can the Erasure of wrongdoing.

We were supposed to be enemies, Americans and Iraqi’s, Muslims and Christians, newer immigrants and historical immigrants. But here we were, huddled around the table together, with candle lights flickering off cheeks and smiling eyes.

Giving your life away is the only way to truly find it. Loving our enemies is what transforms fear into Freedom. Love has the power to change us.