I have an M.A. in Systematic Theology, with concentration in Interreligious Dialogue, primarily focused on South Asian religions and Christianity. I also attended graduate Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. I received a B.A. in Religious Studies from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. I have developed seminars on interreligious dialogue through the kind auspices of Colorado Free University. My heroes reflect my beliefs. They are constantly shifting, but here’s a good idea: My endlessly patient and loving husband, Mike, Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Gandhi, Ed Shirley, PhD, my brother, Stan who sits in trees, my dad, Jim RIP (newly discovered hero), Dom Bede Griffiths. The others are the usual suspects, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon. I am an opinionated Capricorn whose voice and truth I continue to realize, often with surprise. I lean far to the left, politically and religiously. I believe that the world is, by definition, a diverse place of astonishing beauty and sorrowful agony. We all are in this together and it is a bitter struggle for me to remember how important you all are and how unimportant I am. I believe that life is a sacred gift and that those who are merely enduring it until they rejoice in Heaven are missing the point. I believe that organized religion has a role in spiritual living. But, I know that every single organized religion loses sight of that role and grief ensues. I believe it is our obligation to speak out against injustice, tyranny and evil, especially when it is our own. To echo Don Henley, “I will not go quietly.”