Valerie Li

Ask most ministry couples and they’ll tell you the same thing: the job doesn’t stay at the office. The phone rings during dinner. A hard elders’ meeting shows up in the car on the way home. A complaint from a congregation member sits between two people lo... See more

A few years into ministry, most clergy wives I meet with can describe the same quiet calculation running in the background of their week: how will this be received? Not by God, necessarily — by the congregation. What they wear to the church, how warmly th... See more

One of the joys of doing a PhD is that your reading rarely goes where you planned. This post isn’t a research finding. It’s a trail of thought from the last few weeks of reading, and I’m sharing it because it has changed how I think about the relationship... See more

Chinatown is, without a doubt, one of Boston’s best food neighborhoods. Want to eat the greatest dumplings in the city? Head to Chinatown. Dim sum? Check. Hand-pulled noodles? Check. Beijing-style duck? You got it. Chinatown has ramen; Chinatown has udon;... See more

Blue Zones researcher Dan Buettner spent two decades investigating the world’s longest-lived populations, and came away convinced there is no single reason why they live so long Blue Zones began as a search for the places where people seemed to age best—a... See more