I wasn’t raised in a religious household (Although my parents were raised Catholic and Lutheran, they became disillusioned and pretty anti-religious as adults). Despite this, I’ve always felt a draw to spiritual life and especially the beautiful traditions of the Anglican and Catholic Churches and teachings of western Buddhism and Taoism. At Carleton College I happened to get a campus job with the Chaplain’s office, and the Chaplain became my most important college mentor, mostly in social justice work. After college I went to UCLA for medical school and Stanford for residency starting in 2003, then a Masters in Public Health at Berkeley and fellowship training in Geriatrics before joining the Stanford medical faculty in 2011 and setting up the new Geriatrics division. I decided to shift gears in 2023 and left the Geriatrics program in good hands so I can try new things, including writing about health care. This midlife pause has given me a lot more time with my husband, 15 and 10 year old daughters, mom, mother-in-law (St. Mark’s parishioner Beth Roth), grandmother, and friends.
I began attending Centering Prayer meditation groups at St. Mark’s in 2018 and met [former rector] Father Matt. He was so understanding and welcoming of my “unchurched” background and lifelong draw to spiritual nourishment that I felt comfortable beginning to attend services in 2019, and St. Mark’s and the teachings of Christianity – especially the contemplative Christian tradition – became a very important part of my life. For the last couple of years I have served as Vestry Clerk.