Thanks to some quick coordination between government and faith-based institutions, some homeless in Spokane now have new and safer places to sleep.

Asking someone who you know is suffering to “Keep me updated” is not only unhelpful, but makes life more difficult for the suffering person. You’re adding to their mental load. You’re not supporting them. You’re not helping. You’re actively making their life more difficult by adding one more thing they need to do in an already incredibly difficult time.

If you are looking for a traditional Christmas Eve service with candlelight and carols or a “Christmas Day” service you can attend on Thursday night, Spokane-area churches of a variety of denominations have a service just for you this holiday season.

Hanukkah began Sunday. And like all American Jews, I am a little nervous this year. Hanukkah ends on Dec. 26, creating an unusual confluence of holidays. And it comes during a time of growing antisemitism in the U.S. and the world. The number of antisemitic incidents in 2021 was the highest in nearly 50 years, and 2022 is going to be worse.

I can’t help but think about tradition this time of year, which makes me think of impermanence. Tradition is often thought of as something timeless and unchanging, passed down from a previous generation. It reminds me of the lyric from “Fiddler on the Roof.” You may ask, how did this tradition start? ... I'll tell you - I don't know. But it's a tradition …”

Consider the fate of two Baha’i women in Iran who, in November, were sentenced to their second 10-year prison terms after a hiatus of four years. Mahvash Sabet, 69, and Fariba Kamalabadi, 60, were first incarcerated in 2008 and released in 2018. At the time they were part of an informal group of five men and two women who tended to the basic pastoral needs of the Iranian Baha’i community. This was with “full knowledge of the Iranian government,” according to the Baha’I International Community (BIC) in Geneva. The BIC represents the worldwide Baha’i community at the UN and other international forums.