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A Multifaith Statement for Free, Fair, Safe, and Honored Elections
Puget Sound Region · September 2, 2026 As leaders and people of many wisdom traditions of the Salish Sea region, we speak together — not for any party or candidate — but for the democratic process itself, and for the neighbors it exists to serve. Earlier this year, marking the 250th anniversary of the United…
Read MoreMorality Is Cooperation
Last week I made a claim: America’s crisis is not a failure of values but a failure of relationships between groups. This week I want to go one layer deeper, because the two are more connected than we usually think. Ask people across cultures and traditions what makes a person good, and remarkably similar answers…
Read MoreWhy One Friend Isn’t Enough
Years ago, my brother-in-law — a farmer — was badly injured in an accident just before harvest. What happened next is the reason I believe what I believe. More than thirty farming families showed up with combines, trucks, and food. They finished in one day what would have taken one farmer weeks. Nobody was paid.…
Read MoreWe Haven’t Lost Our Values. We’ve Lost Each Other.
Everywhere I go, I hear the same anxiety. People are worried about polarization. About loneliness. About whether democracy itself can hold. I hear it from pastors and farmers, from software engineers and retired schoolteachers, from progressives and conservatives, from Christians, Muslims, Jews, and people of no religion at all. And at nearly every gathering, someone…
Read MoreBuilding Civic Muscle, Together: Notes from the July Civic Innovation Forum
On July 6, the Thriving Together Washington Civic Innovation Forum gathered faith leaders, community organizers, and civic innovators from across the state on Zoom. Paths to Understanding convenes this forum in partnership with Renew to Thrive and the InterMovement Impact Project — because this is exactly the civic engagement work we believe our moment requires:…
Read MoreCreating a Connected Ecosystem
One of the most important lessons I have learned over the last ten years is this: No one organization can renew our society. The challenges we face are too large and too interconnected. Everything is connected. That means renewal must be connected as well. Over the last several years, Paths to Understanding has increasingly found…
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