Language: not so subtle pervisions One of the last classes I took to satisfy the number of courses needed for my undergraduate major in English was Linguistics. Taught by the head of the English department in the small college, it was, by far, one of the tougher courses for me. Not because the material was […]
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Happiness: Feeling or decision? “So, how exactly, do you decide to be happy?” My friend looked bemusedly at me as she replied to my statement that I thought happiness was a decision we made. “LOOK at that tree!” I exclaimed loudly and with vehemence, knowing that my reply to her question required more than a
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Defining freedom: The old/new lure of socialism On this July 4th weekend, we ponder the origins of American exceptionalism and consider the warnings of the founders about democracy. This old/new lure of socialism is antithetical to what we stand for in these United States, a nation founded under God. But for a growing number of
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Politicians have a patron saint: It’s a joke, right? The young couple’s reaction could well be anyones’ in this muddled, politics-soaked early twenty-first century, when told there is indeed such a person: It’s a man from the sixteenth century. On their minds might be two questions: It’s next to impossible to miss the parallels between
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It’s June: Thinking About Time and Death It’s June, why aren’t you writing about excellent graduation speeches? I planned to do just that, even had a few graduation speeches selected for consideration, until Monday’s walk with Seymour and John’s comment about my second chance. Monday was June 1st. While putting my dog Seymour’s collar and
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Knowledge is power The phrase, knowledge is power, is a well-known mantra. One that, for some, is unquestioned. It was Sir Roger Bacon who first wrote ipsa scientia potestas est in his Meditations. But much earlier, the Book of Proverbs attests to the strength of the wise man and the man with knowledge. The voices
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Know thyself: gnōthi seauton: These two words were inscribed in the vestibule of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. They were the reason Socrates disputed the Oracle’s declaration that he was the wisest person on earth. When told what the Oracle had said, Socrates demurred, insisting that since he did not know himself, he could not
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Curbing the Aggressive, Capricious, Untrustworthy Intellect It’s a heck of a phrase, isn’t it? The adjectives strung together are strident and wholly negative modifiers of—the intellect. Huh? In our knowledge-obsessed twenty-first century, the statement, Curbing the Aggressive, Capricious, Untrustworthy Intellect sounds like heresy. Unless we stop, really HALT. And think about the amount of words we read, hear, and
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Photo Courtesy Mont Saint Michel Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael The stunning image is of Mont Saint Michel Abbey in Normandy, France, takes me back to a journey there before my conversion. That trip comes to mind because after my friend and I climbed the 350 steps to enter into the Abbey, we’d no idea
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Climate Change: The Activists are both right and wrong The activists are right: our created world and everything in it is suffering and in danger. But the climate change activists are wholly wrong in their belief that ending fossil fuels, all carbon dioxide emissions, eating meat, or decreasing the population will fix us. No government,
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