I originally met Erika through Donna Burklo sometime last summer. With neither of us having a proclivity for nonsense, we dove straight into the all the big topics during our first conversation. Due to my tumultuous upbringing in extreme religiosity, I tend to not have lots of room for it in my life these days. I actually associate it with more potential for bad than good. So, going into our first meeting, I knew that Erika was a pastor, but I did my best to lay my judgments aside. The resulting conversation was one of my favorites since moving to Bend and by the end of it, I considered Erika a friend and an ally.

We heard each other as we spoke our individual truths and respected each other through our differences while we discovering a path toward our common ground. We've met on a few occasions since then and I've felt an affinity for her each time. Because I thought sharing our story might be meaningful to others, I asked Erika to participate here. She accepted and, just as I hoped, she showed up in a real way for it. I'm delighted to share her interview with you here. Erika is a super smart and resilient woman with a huge capacity for empathy and compassion. And I'm proud to call her my friend.