Today is Fat Tuesday, tomorrow is Lent, a season of abstinence. I was not raised Catholic, but I understand the logic of deprivation as preparation for newness, the emergence of new life. The truth is ancient, predating the Christian era. That’s the dynamic of life, of reality, of Nature, and the arc of human…
For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plumbline in the hand of Zerubbabel; these seven are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. —Zechariah 4:10 I’ve not lost my mind. I seldom quote verses of scripture. In…
I thought that I was through with the subject of “time.” But no, the choice is not , was not mine. “Time” is not through with me. There is more that I must say. It is impossible to assess the meaning of time, because we are like fish; we humans swim in the sea…
All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that. —Balthasar Gracian So began our essay, Flavors of Time by Dean Buonomano. We awaken to consciousness upon birth, a consciousness that increases with the mastery of motor skills and then of language. Observe a child over the year…
I finished the essay on the subject of time. That’s my second read. And I’ll likely read it again. I’ve been intrigued with “time” for many years. I cannot help but notice that a great deal of poetry happens to be verses that meditate upon the difference that times passage makes in human consciousness…
How do I say this? On this Sunday afternoon the Superbowl spectacle is to be staged in Minneapolis. I find it hard to care. I am stuck back on groundhog day, February the 2nd. It was a sunny day, Punxsutawny Phil returned to his burrow and thus six more weeks of winter are in…
The link between excellence in parenting and a happy childhood is obvious. There are not many excellent parents. From my observation of families, and of my own experience a majority of us greet our newly born child as if we were Adam and Eve. I am sobered to acknowledge that most of us enter…
This morning I decided to sleep in, to get more rest. Typically I arise at 6AM and am out the door 45 minutes later. It is Saturday so why not “sleep in?” The last hour or so of this morning’s rest were interrupted by troubled dreams. So much for getting more rest. I will…
As planned I met with friends Tuesday evening for philosophy discussion. We considered the words of Seneca on the subject of friendship. The subject was apropos in our own time of political gridlock, when words seem to make little difference. Feeling is confused with thinking. Feelings are shifting sand, nothing upon which to forge…
It is Tuesday morning. The sun rises gloriously. The air is still and cold, about 13 degrees F. The President will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight. I will not be watching. I plan to be with friends sampling Scotch and philosophizing about an essay by Seneca on friendship. Friendship takes…
