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What if we began with character, my students and I asked, rather than rights?

I once applied for a job I was told was mine to lose. The closer I got to getting it, the more I dreamed—looking at homes to buy and schools for kids to attend, even planning good-bye parties. I imagined a new life. When I didn’t get the job, I was crushed.

My only thought as I sat in rush hour traffic once again: I was promised flying cars. I grew up watching The Jetsons, the reboot that aired in the 1980s. The Saturday morning cartoon embodied everything that I thought the future would hold: there would be flying cars, colonies in outer space, robots who did all the cleaning, and good-paying jobs that consisted of pressing buttons all day. I couldn’t wait to experience an entire meal by popping a single tablet into my mouth, just like they did on the show.

To build the Beloved Community, we need to think and talk and act differently about bodies.

River baptisms are becoming a casualty of polluted waters.