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…
I have spent a fair amount of time in Louisville, Ky. My daughter and her partner live there. While visiting I always grab a copy of the Leo. The Leo is an alternative weekly newspaper. The paper has an editorial policy that fearlessly takes the measure of the political and social scene in Kentucky. …
For human life to continue on the hillside (or anywhere else) through successive generations requires good use, good work, all along. For in any agricultural place that will waste and erode–and all will–bad work will not permit “muddling through”; sooner or later it ends human life. For good work to last, to outlast the…
In the Lord of the Rings story by JRR Tolkien, the cartoon version has a scene of orc infantry being marched to war. While supervised by an officer wielding a whip they sing, “Don’t want to go to war today,–but where there’s a whip there is a way.” The scene came to mind as…
