“I am an usher because God has given me that talent, and he also has given me a blessing to be a blessing to others,” says Charles J. Brown. a senior usher at the Hemingway Memorial AME Church in District Heights, Maryland. More →

September 2, 2016

A growing new spiritual practice combines the breathing techniques of yoga with laughter. Practitioners say it helps them achieve joy and spiritual well-being. At a laughter yoga session at Washington National Cathedral, we talk with instructor Diane Cohen, who says laughter yoga releases “that inner essence that we don’t always let out.” More →

August 26, 2016

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia describes the rituals and spiritual significance of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the month-long Ramadan fast. More →

July 1, 2016

Some mosques use the month of Ramadan as an opportunity to educate friends and neighbors about Islam. The Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia encourages members of its congregation to bring non-Muslim friends to their iftar dinners, the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik describes how the program ties the community together. More →

June 24, 2016

When the festival of Passover approaches, observant Jews search their homes for any yeast or leaven and then give it away, donate it to charity, burn it, or authorize a rabbi to sell it for them to a non-Jewish buyer. “People who don’t share our faith are helping Jewish people in the observance of their faith,” says Rabbi Yosef Landa of Chabad.org. More →

April 22, 2016

During Maundy Thursday and Good Friday “pilgrimage becomes a metaphor for life,” says Rev. Kenneth Semon of the Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe. “We’re following our Lord, who goes before us.” More →

March 18, 2016

“If I’m hungry I should eat. If I’m thirsty I should drink. But because of a recognition of a greater and higher need, I choose not to,” says Abdu’l Karim Ewing-Boyd. We visited him and his family in Washington, DC as they prepared to break the long fast leading up to the Baha’i New Year. More →

March 4, 2016

“America is the greatest country in the world because of its great Constitution,” says Hamtramck city councilman Saad Almasmari. “I’m an American. My rule is going to be the US Constitution and the state and the city law.” More →

February 5, 2016

Farming is often about homecoming, explains Mary Berry, executive director of the Berry Center. “It doesn’t mean [farmers] have to go to the place they were born,” she says. “The concept of homecoming is simply to take root some place and care about a place, not just for a short amount of time, but forever.” More →

February 4, 2016

A lawsuit alleges that some private yeshivas run by Hasidic Jewish sects are not complying with New York state law by not teaching English, math, and science; an activist, pastor, and preacher says white and black churches must cross the bridge to a new America now; and a church in Baltimore runs a boxing gym as part of its ministry and neighborhood outreach. More →

January 29, 2016