Dear ,
This week, I've found myself riveted by the Artemis II mission. I held my breath as the crew lost communication with NASA while traveling further from Earth than any humans in history, and I've been waiting with great anticipation ever since as they make their return journey home.
As a writer and lover of words, I was moved while listening to the crew describe what they were witnessing through their windows. The descriptions of the breathtaking images they sent back were vivid, detailed, and at times almost poetic. The craters on the far side of the moon, never before seen by human eyes. And then there was Earth itself, viewed from an angle most of us never consider: the side that is almost entirely water, quiet and vast, and rarely photographed.
Those images stopped me in my tracks.
When you've only ever seen one face of the moon, you have no idea what you're missing. When you’ve only considered one side of the Earth, we assume we understand the whole picture. But perspective, and the willingness to look from a different angle, changes everything. The absence of perspective doesn't just limit our understanding; it distorts it.
This feels especially relevant right now. As we await Governor Abigail Spanberger's decisions on our priority bills before the April 13th deadline, the temptation is to dig in, to see only what confirms what we already believe. But this moment calls for something harder and more valuable: the intentional effort to understand another point of view, even when it's uncomfortable.
Differences in perspective don't have to fracture relationships. In fact, some of the most important things we can learn about ourselves and our world come from the angles we've never considered. The diversity of how we see the world is part of what makes the world worth fighting for.
So here's the call: In the days ahead, seek out a conversation with someone whose view differs from yours. Ask a genuine question. Listen without preparing your rebuttal. You don't have to agree, but you might just discover a side of things you didn't know you were missing.
In Solidarity,
Keisha
Rev. Dr. LaKeisha Cook
Executive Director | 
