This month’s mantra is not a phrase, its an expression, captured in a photo of a smile. Humor is a sharp tool for confronting structures of injustice in the world. To laugh at, smirk at, deride and dismiss agents of hatred is a way of disarming their weapons. When someone is draging you into the mud, sometimes the best way to resist is to refuse to have a bad time. A smile is like that when our political spaces become so contentious. Saffiyah Khan, in the image above, demonstrates a face and a posture that can disempower those working on behalf of bigotry.

That is an expression of courage we can all learn from, and this month instead of centering yourself with a spoken mantra, maybe we can all practice this face, this pose, this casual, one-hand-in-my-pocket stance. This is a way to embody courage in a way that meets the stings and arrows of our present moment.

Allan T. Georgia, MDiv, MTS, PhD

Sometimes it is hard to tap into our spiritual selves or find time to nurture our intellectual curiosity. Here is a section that reflects on some nourishing materials from around the web and related media channels in order to get us thinking, get us feeling, and get us reflecting on the lives we are living in this big, beautiful world. **Some Adult/Mature Themes May Appear in Links and Other Attached Material**