Content warning: This story contains mentions of suicide, self-harm, and trauma. This story is written for an adult audience. Midnight-black shadows cascaded over the bright blue-painted walls of a studio-apartment-sized home. Crickets chirped outside a barely cracked open window that displayed an open, blanketed heavenly sky. The stars themselves twinkled like gems across a desert ...

O, downtrodden soul, weep no more. You have a curious mind, a need to touch and see to believe what is right in front of you. But they spit on your face and kick you to the ground. You wonder what it is that you did wrong, as everyone you know looks at you with ...

Alone in an empty room, the clock ticks, resounding off the walls. But time stands frozen, as if preserving the stillness of the night. Shadows remain present in the lonely abode, like the pain in my soul. A haunting reminder that becomes worse than any religion can conjure in their minds. My anguish food for ...

“Did Biden just start World War Three to sabotage Trump?” the people exclaim in hushed silence, shaking their heads in astonishment. If only it were that simple. I do not have the answers any more than my fellow human beings about what is truth or pure bias. Life is essentially a mystery, the fog leaving ...

In the calmand quietI see you. You call my namebeckoning meto be in your arms. Underneath the moon,the stars and galaxiesyou call upon me. “Trust me”you say withreassurance. How can I?When the gaping holewithin me grows. Left there bybetrayal after betrayalnever fully healing. I am a scaredwounded childdesiring a reprieve. “Trust me”you say withsincerity. As ...

I am a Christian. After years of life in a sheltered church environment, I dove out into the world to find people in different spiritual spaces. Most of what I found was enlightening, encouraging, and helped increase my closeness to God. But along the way, I found a problematic doctrine that weaponized the bible against ...

My American soldier.Head held high,unafraid to fight.Unafraid to die. For thosehe loves in thisblessed country,and for their freedom. Because he believes inthe wordsfreedom, liberty,justice for all. “Why must you go?”I cry, everyteardropa scar on my heart. Every step hetakes, breaks myspirit further, mysoul crys in anguish. Is it selfish to needhim here, even ashis country ...

The world evolved from a single point in time. People, nature, culture, and religion are all connected by a universal thread, woven into the beautiful tapestry that is our world. Somewhere along the timeline, we started building walls instead of bridges. The purpose of faith is to bring us together, but it often drives a ...

Resilience is the buzzword of the apocalypse. I mean pandemic, but it often feels like a manifestation of the end times as we roll from one scenario to the next in the land of COVID-19. While I embrace resilience, I also need to say I’m Exhausted! The thing about our wonderful human life is it ...

Marriage is a sacred bond between two people. A relationship desired by God and meant to be held as infinitely important. As God desires us to be in an intimate relationship with Him, our personal relationships also need to adhere to certain standards. When the high standards of the most holy are not met, we ...