Jesus is not coming back! Is that statement ironic, troubling, laugh-out-loud funny, or simply nonsensical? It depends entirely upon the reader. What do you bring to those words arranged in syntax? What mental image forms, involuntarily? Do you experience a strong emotional response: relief, dread… The meaning is involuntary after all, the effect of…
Getting started is the crux of the matter. The ending depends upon the beginning, or as T. S. Eliot wrote in Burnt Norton: Time present and time pastAre both perhaps present in time future,And time future contained in time past. What immediately follows, the very next line dumbfounds me.. If all time is eternally…
Last night we viewed “Stowaway,” a Netflix film about a three man mission to Mars. Or rather, a two woman, and one man mission that becomes a four person mission with the discovery of a stowaway, after the launch of the spacecraft Kingfisher. The acting is excellent. Toni Collette is mission commander Marina Barrett. …
Timing is everything, according to the saying. Timing, the right time, a propitious time, the “alignment of stars and planets,” is a key aspect of life. Perhaps it is everything. I cannot say. In the off chance there is a god, and he/she could see with exquisite clarity past, present, and future, — and…
Yesterday in Minneapolis a jury convicted officer Derek Chauvin of second degree murder (and of two other charges as well) in the killing of George Floyd this past May. The scene of gratuitous, lethal cruelty was filmed by a bystander. The conviction of a police officer is very, very rare. The New York Times…
The word, “breakout,” conveys the connotation of an extreme, threatening circumstance. The stakes are high. An attempt is made by force to breach the encirclement, to achieve freedom of movement. I simply want to write about our very first experience of eating-out, dining at a restaurant after receiving our second Moderna covid shot. This…
Today I was at the crossing point of an email conversation between two friends. It was as if I were standing on a curb before a cross walk at a busy intersection. Two vehicles approach at speed limit velocity, each at right angles to the other. Each driver is oblivious to the other, and…
Why wouldn’t there be as many real worlds as there are imaginary ones?Why would there be only one real world?Why such a mode of exception? In reality, the notion of a real world existing among all other possible worlds is unimaginable.It is unthinkable, except perhaps as a dangerous superstition. We must stay away from…
Our discussion topic last night was a question with three words: “What is life?“ Thoughts have come to mind about this intriguing question that I wish to express. In the course of wrestling with the topic last night one of our members referenced the famous lines of Shakespeare from Macbeth, Act V, Scene V,…
Tuesday, and I plan to have lunch with a friend. Later in the day, I hope to meet another friend for coffee at Starbucks. Can I imagine a more agreeable day? It gets better. In the evening, I will join a group of old friends via Zoom to discuss the topic, “What Is Life?” …
