Walk the Talk: A Quest for Equality

EXCERPT from the first chapter White Ants Sounds of a slow steady train pulling into the station, a sluggish chugging of one carrying a heavy load, stirred me from a sound sleep. As anticipated, it eventually came to a stop. Moments later it pulled away. Half awake, half asleep, I could hear Rev. Magdaliya Kamble…
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Prayers, the police, and the pilgrimage

“…found myself struggling with praying.  I have always had problems with the Our Father since childhood, why am I praying to a male God I would think, when it is my mother who takes cares of me.  And then their was the part “on earth as it is heaven” was I confirming that our present…
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A Cloud of Witnesses

…Utah is Mormon country, and top officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as the church is formally known) are vigorously opposed to admitting women to the priesthood, a role to which virtually all male Mormon adults are ordained. In fact, the church recently publicly excommunicated a woman, a lifelong and dedicated…
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“See Ya Tomorrow”

When I embarked on this Pilgrimage for the ERA I knew it would be difficult.  Difficult is an understatement!  As I slowly make my way from the Golden Gate bridge to Washington D.C.  I pray for those whom I care for and those I have met in the course of day to day affairs.  My…
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“Lady of Walsingham, I lift up Godfather Bob”

Helene Swanson and the Rev. Robert T. Coolidge at the Chapel of the Lady of Walsingham, Trinity Church Seneca Falls, NY on July 29, 2012 on her first pilgrimage to promote the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment following morning prayer lead by Rev. Coolidge.  Photo Credit: William Swanson Dearest Family and Friends, It was…
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Listen to The Night

On the side of the road I met a Native American/Indian sage who instructed me to listen to the night when he and I exchanged stories. Inspired by his words I wrote the following poem.  Read more → Listen To The Night Reaching out I listen to the night In the darkness I find the light…
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The Scream

One of my first college writing assignments was on The Scream. I identified with it as the painting invoked strong feelings as I thought of my mother who lost all of her hair when a red brick fell nine stories striking her smack dab in the middle of her skull as she had thrown herself…
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Open the Floodgates

This amazing pilgrimage I am making across the United States of America for the Equal Rights Amendment is dedicated to my beloved husband Brother William Gaines Swanson who stood by my side and encouraged me to undertake the calling his mother the Rev. Katrina Swanson asked us to undertake in her last year of life.  Read…
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