The Compartmentalization of Attention
Thanks to the attention-span-killing Internet, it becomes harder to pay anything the attention it deserves. This works well for those who exploit it. What was earthshattering news last week can barely be recalled today. We more easily forget and, to…
The Tales We Tell
It turns out that I have a tendency to make the most of a bad situation, and I write it that way because this was not readily apparent to me for the longest time. If I had been asked, while…
Meaning and Reality
Questions about reality have come up over and over and over in the last year. When answers have been found, they’ve not always been satisfactory, although they have consistently led me to further questions. Oh, but now, that last sentence…
The Old and the Novel
The notion of a path or journey to describes one’s life is a bit overused, so I’ve made a conscious effort to avoid such a metaphor. The problem is that I have yet to find one that works as well.…
Please Don’t Get Comfortable
The best part of reading more than one book at any period of time is finding the connections among them. It is a conversation, and like most conversations, paying attention is important, because if you do, you’ll likely find answers…
Freedom of the Humble Soul
I had every intention yesterday of writing about the interesting bits I found in The Gaze of Love by Sister Wendy Beckett, but I managed to get off on a political tangent. Can you imagine? Let’s see if I can…
Almost a Year
The day after Ash Wednesday, I remembered my not terribly solid Lenten tradition of reading The Gaze of Love by Sister Wendy Beckett, so I pulled the book off the shelf and quickly caught up. The subtitle is Meditations on…
Groupthink
Groupthink: A Study in Self Delusion turned out to be rather a different book that what I thought I was in for. I sometimes buy books impetuously, skimming descriptions as quickly as possible, glancing at a review or two, and…
Discernment and Desire
If nothing else, the last year has taught me to be more discerning. I have learned that little is as it seems and nothing that comes out of the mouths of the ruling elite or their propaganda machine is to…
Who Does Your Thinking?
A very short poem from Robert Louis Stevenson ran through my mind this morning: The world is so full of a number of things,I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings. Now, I can’t personally vouch for the…
Such Times
“Courage, Merry.” Dennis, the kids, and I revived our Christmas tradition of watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It took a long time; we came to the end of all things just a couple of nights ago, and now,…
Whose Voices are in Your Head?
One of the greatest aspects of my little life centered here at home is the relative ease with which I can keep opinions, criticisms, and judgments out of my existence. There are times, of course, when I drag them in,…
