48The old God, all ‘spirit’,…all perfection,promenades in his garden:but he is bored.Against boredom the gods themselvesfight in vain.What is he to do?He invents man – man is entertaining…..But behold, man too is bored.God’s sympathy with the only kind of distressfound in paradise knows no bounds:He forthwith creates other animals.God’s first blunder:man did not find…
Summer is waning. In our child-like fantasy, we’d like endless summer. Deceiving ourselves, we forget that in time we’d be satiated with the beauty, the days of amusement and play. Boredom would overtake us soon enough. I entertained these thoughts yesterday while enjoying a “just right” lunch on the patio of the Makray Memorial…
Yesterday I went for a short drive to Geneva as is my habit to do some reading, sitting on the ground under a maple tree in front of the old court house. Gazing at the great old Civil War memorial statue that dominates the view from the courthouse, — the mood came over me…
Friday Reading this morning’s The Daily update of stories in the New York Times, I learned more detail about the Presidents attempts to de-fund and degrade the Post Office. The Post Office is one of the venerable institutions of the government that has served many generations of Americans well. The Presidents appointed Postmaster General,…
Summer passes. Yesterday Kamala Harris was introduced as Joe Biden’s VP running mate. Already she is a lightning rod for name calling, character assassination. A QAnon candidate from Georgia prevailed in the primary and is certain to be elected to represent that district in the House of Representatives. I feel dismay on the one…
We discussed philosophy last night, or made an attempt. I made an effort, but just could not seem to “get there.” We are all “ground down” by the pandemic, by the lies, betrayal, and conflict disseminated from the White House. Senator Kamala Harris has been selected as VP partner by Joe Biden. The announcement…
Not too long ago, I was introduced to a candidate who is running for the Illinois Senate. I took a piece of campaign literature which I kept. I’ve examined the message and the layout of the piece at some length. The banner tagline is three words that sum up this candidates programme. Stimulated to…
I thought about it off and on. Part of my life recedes in the rear view mirror: running. In my early years, those when I was a kid at play, or in the school yard, I loved to run. Running was fun. I always chose to run instead of walk no matter the occasional…
This is one of those most sad songs, MacArthur Park. And everyone loved to hear it, to sing it in 1967. How can one not take Buddhism seriously? The impermanence of all things, life as suffering, etc. Everything passes, becomes unhinged, fails it’s intended function, etc. Acceptance of such an assessment of our condition…
Several posts ago I invited comment from readers who viewed the Netflix film, The 13th. The film title is a reference to the 13th amendment to the constitution that freed the slaves during the Civil War. The point of the film is the loophole, an exception to universal freedom which we hear indefatigably advertised…
