Contents IntroductionJAY ALLISON Finding the Strength to Fight Our Fears
TERRY AHWAL I Will Take My Voice Back
QUIQUE AVILES A Silent Night That Brought Healing
STEVE BANKO Living with Integrity
BOB BARRET The Strange Blessing That Brought Me Home
ROBIN BAUDIER Returning to What’s Natural
AMELIA BAXTER-STOLTZFUS The Right to Be Fully American
YASIR BILLOO The Person I’m Supposed to Be
ANDY BLOWERS Making It Up as I Go Along
ALICE BROCK Sticking My Nose in the World’s Business
BRIGID DAULL BROCKWAY Teaching a Bad Dog New Tricks
DAVID BUETOW The Learning Curve of Gratitude
MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER Failure Is a Good Thing
JON CARROLL The Faith That Brings Me Peace
BETSY CHALMERS The Person I Want to Bring into This World
LAURA SHIPLER CHICO The Deeper Well of Memory
CHRISTINE CLEARY A Marriage That’s Good Enough
CORINNE COLBERT Creating Our Own Happiness
WAYNE COYNE A Way to Honor Life
CORTNEY DAVIS We Never Go Away
DENNIS DOWNEY The Questions We Must Ask
TAMAR DUKE-COHAN Learning True Tolerance
JOEL ENGARDIO Doing Things My Own Way
BELA FLECK Dancing All the Dances as Long as I Can
ROBERT FULGHUM
A Reverence for All Life
MICHELLE GARDNER-QUINN A Feeling of Wildness
DAVID GESSNER All the Joy the World Contains
JIMMIE DALE GILMORE As I Grow Old
DAVID GREENBERGER Untold Stories of Kindness
ERNESTO HAIBI Peace Begins with One Person
IVORY HARLOW Do What You Love
TONY HAWK Combating the Tyranny of the Positive Attitude
BARBARA HELD My Husband Will Call Me Tomorrow
BECKY HERZ The Tense Middle
ROALD HOFFMANN Living in the Here and Now
JEFFREY HOLLENDER Inner Strength from Desperate Times
JAKE HOVENDEN Becoming a Parent Is a Gift
CHRIS HUNTINGTON Finding Redemption Through Acceptance
INTERROGATOR Paying Attention to the Silver Lining
ANNALIESE JAKIMIDES There Is No Blame; There Is Only Love
ANN KARASINSKI The Universe Is Conspiring to Help Us
KEVIN KELLY We All Need Mending
SUSAN COOKE KITTREDGE Telling Kids the Whole Truth
MARTHA LEATHE Every Person Is Precious
ISABEL LEGARDA Navigating Turbulent Waters
JIMMY LIAO All Beings Are Interconnected
JAMES LONEY A Musician of Many Cultures
YO-YO MA Being Content with Myself
KAMAAL MAJEED Be Cool
CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE That Old Piece of Cloth
FRANK MILLER My Home Is New Orleans
MIKE MILLER That Golden Rule Thing
CRAIG NEWMARK My Personal Leap of Faith
BILL NUNAN Admittance to a Better Life
MICHAEL OATMAN Living What You Do Every Day
YOLANDA O’BANNON The Long Road to Forgiveness
KIM PHUC The Practice of Slowing Down
PHIL POWERS Living My Prayer
SISTER HELEN PREJEAN The Chance to Move Forward
MARIA MAYO ROBBINS Utterly Humbled by Mystery
FATHER RICHARD ROHR I Always Have a Choice
CATHERINE ROYCE I Am Not My Body
LISA SANDIN Resilience Is a Gift
JOEL SCHMIDT The Designated Celebrator
MELINDA SHOAF Baking by Senses and Memories
EMILY SMITH Learning to Trust My Intuition
CYNTHIA SOMMER An Optimistic View of the World
DAN TANI Community in Action
STUDS TERKEL Music Makes Me Come Alive
JOAN TOWER God Is God Because He Remembers
ELIE WIESEL The Guts to Keep Going
AMY LYLES WILSON Freeing Myself Through Forgiveness
YOLANDA YOUNG A Potential for Brutality
YINONG YOUNG-XU A Duty to Family, Heritage, and Country
YING YING YU We’re All Different in Our Own Ways
JOSHUA YUCHASZ Afterword
DAN GEDIMAN APPENDIX A:
How to Write Your Own This I Believe Essay APPENDIX B:
How to Use This I Believe in Your Community Acknowledgments Reading Group Guide