Often cause and effect is not obvious. The direction of the process, and the meaning of the ultimate result may be concealed by a tortuous chain of ambiguous links. Where, how did the cancer begin? Such news comes “out of the blue.” the last thing one expects to hear. The lethal condition was not…
Love is never abstract. it does not adhere to the universe or the planet or the nation or the institution or the profession, but to the singular sparrows of the street, the lilies of the field, “the least of these my bretheren.” Love is not, by its own desire, heroic. It is heroic only…
We are in Louisville Kentucky. It’s a week before the running of the Derby. The town is in festival mode, special events are in progress, Mother Nature is doing her best with pleasant weather. The sidewalks are crowded on Bardstown Road. Our AirBnB is just a around the corner. I found a spot at…
Religion in its broadest sense, then, must be another term for that obscurity that surrounds men’s efforts to defend himself by curative or preventive means against his own violence. Religion shelters us from violence just as violence seeks shelter in religion. —excerpt from Violence and the Sacred by Rene Girard Bad Company A company…
Played a vintage Springsteen CD while driving yesterday. It was the “Live in New York City” CD. I did not attend the Madison Square Garden concert of July 1, 2000. By chance some time later I happened to catch rebroadcast of the concert while in a hotel room in Columbia Kentucky. The power of…
There is no denying that competitiveness is a part of the life both of an individual and of a community, or that, within limits, it is a useful and necessary part. But it is equally obvious that no individual can lead a good or a satisfying life under the rule of competition, and no…
There’s a killer on the road His brain is squirmin’ like a toad Into this world we’re thrown Like a dog without a bone An actor out on loan. Riders on the storm –The Doors Riders on the Storm is a haunting Rock paean. Jim Morrison does justice to the dark lyric, singing about…
The day is overcast, air temperature at 34 degrees, no wind–as if Nature is at the fold point. Spring is soon to be felt, experienced, seen in the tender green shoots emerging from the black earth, seeking light, warmth, life. Life is a mystery, impervious to our intelligence. We describe it variously, but do…
Yesterday a friend posted the word “freedom” along with a dictionary definition or two, and several paragraphs of personal commentary. The challenge to the reader was to help with a definition of freedom, something that is useful as a guide for behavior. Clearly freedom is something that all of us value, and it would…
I have few words to say. Today was an early morning, attending to customers needs. So this post waited until the end of the day. The words are important though. They are koan-like, found in a book by Wendell Berry, Standing By Words. Love one another or die, individually and as a species. I…
