Yesterday I finished Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche. Zarathustra is not finished with me. I plan to revisit the text. I will obtain another translation. Why not? A somewhat different linguistic angle cannot help but improve understanding of the story. I began reading Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. That is another book that I postponed…
Saturday dawns bright. The spring sun intensely warms vegetation, evaporation continues from the rain-soaked ground. We bear with climate change, the downpours and the droughts as best as we can. The effects are always local, as the suffering is always personal. Thus the great lords in the manor houses are enabled to believe and…
I like this song. But why? How is it that I am moved? What speaks to me as a bedrock-truth from these lyrics, from this melody? Perhaps its the possibility of coming to an unshakable decision, an enduring course-of-action that will not be qualified, modified, or conditions added. Deep River Woman written by Lionel…
Man’s most far, profoundest, star-highest issues, his prodigious powers—do not all these foam through one another in your vessel? What wonder that many a vessel shatters! Learn to laugh at yourselves, as you well should to laugh! You of great aspiration, –Oh, how much is still possible! And truly, how much has already succeeded!…
A group of us came together last night to find language to express our feelings, and our musings in response to a work of art. The piece was unveiled at the inception of our conversation. To supply a sparkle of delight, to ensure that we’d not slip into an all-too-serious mode, a bottle…
The song by Buffalo Springfield has always hooked me. From the shimmering melody intro, to the subject matter of war by a colonial power, whenever this one is played on the radio, time stops for me. I came to adulthood during the Vietnam War. I had no strong feelings pro or con with respect…
Monday morning and it is pouring rain outside. The sky weeps. Is it not apt to weep profusely, to wail with grief? Maybe you’ve not noticed. We exert much effort to remain oblivious, to sustain the bliss which we have purchased by our overdraft of Natures resources. Nature weeps by a precipitous decline in…
A lifetime ago, in my late 20’s my life seemed to be growing darker, bit by bit emotionally constricted. I tried whatever might help. I doubled down on my devotional life, looking for “answers,” a turning point through Bible reading and prayer. No improvement. What to do about this absence of feeling, the colorless…
Yard work can be considered a chore. So much in life depends upon the angle of view. Yard cleanup in the aftermath of winter is labor. That is a given. In contrast to mind-work, which ultimately ends with my fingers on this keyboard, staring at a glowing LCD screen, yard-work-done-right culminates with soil under…
Several days ago a good friend and I exchanged texts. He commented that he was his own worst enemy. That is no trite expression. How many ways subtle and not so subtle do we not undermine our own best interests? We may arrive at a place of utter helplessness, realizing that there is no…
