I believe the real goal should be to create a society in which women and mothers and families receive the practical and emotional support they need in order to survive and thrive (again: healthcare, excellent child care, equal pay for equal work, education, access to social services, etc.) if they have their child. I believe that that is the answer to the abortion issue, and that’s why I am a Democrat.

She came out of nowhere, which is ironic considering the bridge she’s known for. And when Sarah Palin hit the national political stage, I confess that — despite being a hard-core Democrat — I was naturally predisposed to like her. …

Two things that I’ve learned as a spiritual being, and as a mother, are that I don’t know everything (and I don’t trust people who say that they do), and that I don’t have to know everything — in fact, I’m better off in countless ways not to. It is the unknowingthat spurs me to think and wrestle and explore and listen and grow.

I remember how it felt not to trust my own voice, and how trembly I felt when I first started to quietly question out loud, and how having children changed and added to the number of questions I had, and I close my eyes and wish for these women the ability to find and use their own deepest, truest words.

Here is what I miss about my former, structured religious life: giving everything up to Jesus. In my youth, I would simply pray, with earnest desperation: “Jesus, please help me to be a good person,” or “Please send me a good man to love me,” or “God, help me find a way to go back to school – in Jesus’ name, Amen.” It was such a relief, letting go both of control and responsibility.

Some days, it feels like things are, in countless small ways, squeezing the life — or perhaps just the patience, the once-pleasant disposition — right out of me. No wonder monks and nuns take vows of poverty. Who could be holy while managing several people’s mountains of crap?