Jiwon Kim and her family came to the United States from South Korea when she was seventeen. In her own words, she was “bright eyed and bushy-tailed” and ready for an adventure. She studied Spanish literature in college and eventually found a job with the National Library of Medicine from which she recently retired. She…

Allison Leaver’s memories of her Southern Baptist church were all positive.   The family’s social life revolved around church dinners, church services, summer camp, and social service projects.  She remembers her youth group fondly as a place where kids could both have fun and make the world better in small ways.  At college, she began to…

Sean Randol grew up in Kansas City, Missouri attending Roman Catholic Mass weekly with his family. Despite the strict sense of duty in the air, he described his family as joyful.  Yes, there was his “hippy” high school teacher talking about world religions, but things would only change when he left home for a small,…

A lot of understanding Bev Abreu is understanding her upbringing.  There was the spiritual space of her home Catholic church, a small 18-century chapel that felt a world apart, and emanated a sense of timelessness and sacred history. This laid the foundation for a spiritual quest that translated into a love of Buddhism and involvement…