14 Jan 2023

Starting the New Year with Pelicans

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Not intending any offense to Granite Staters, I must say that New Hampshire has never, in the almost-a-decade since I’ve lived here, looked so grey (and I don’t mean the average age of residents, although that’s probably true, too) as it did this past week. Heading to school one morning, I saw one edge of Turkey Pond looking like this. It’s peaceful enough in its drabness, and there’s nothing whatsoever wrong with New England being dressed in leaden skies in … Read More
30 Jan 2022

Just Breathe, But Also Know When To Fight

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Like someone with an ear right up against a radio, getting an occasional bit of voice in the crackling, I’m trying to sort out snippets of incoming news. The messages are definitely mixed, if not downright conflicting. “It’s this way….No, it’s definitely the other way.” Gazing outside at the falling snow today, I recall my Uncle Harold, about 50 years ago, when both his own mother and his mother-in-law were visiting during a snowstorm and he kept hearing opposite instructions: … Read More
1 Dec 2020

In Phones We Don’t Necessarily Trust

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As we approach the time in the calendar when thoughts among the youngest of us turn to preparations underway up at the North Pole – and thank goodness for that — many of the rest of us are still grappling with the fact that we are a polarized society: a whole lot of us over here, and another whole lot of us over there. We are in factions, in bubbles, separated, with barely an inkling of how to come together. … Read More
5 Feb 2017

On Super Bowl Sunday, Mind Your Soup

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On Super Bowl Sunday, or on any other day for that matter, do you prefer to keep politics, religion and sports separate — like food items not touching on a plate—or do you like the mélange of tastes that comes when they’re all swirling around together? Seems to me that there are really good kinds of soups, the broth-based ones with wholesome ingredients that bring comfort on cold days; and then the other kind that could, with the right ingredients … Read More
27 Jan 2017

Just the Facts Please, Hold the Bravado

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“Alternative beliefs” I can buy, but “alternative facts” ? The landscape is shifting, for sure, and my panorama is not what it used to be. Now, Truth has to go into battle with Falsehood on a daily basis. Contrasts and juxtapositions may be my bread and butter here, but I didn’t count on the kind that threaten to pull the rug right out from under us. Essentially, I was pretty content trying to deepen my understanding of the different ways … Read More
27 Nov 2016

‘Tis the Conflict of Interest Season

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President-elect Trump is certain that “the president can’t have conflict of interest.” Oh really? Not much mentioned during the campaign, this controversy now has reached a boiling point. Never before has someone presided over a world-wide multi-million dollar business at the same time as presiding over a country. It sounds like some kind of magic show: now you see it, now you don’t. Maybe he could be called Hoodwinker-in-Chief. Don’t worry—in this post-Thanksgiving blog, politics will be only a “side.” … Read More
6 Nov 2016

Stick-to-itiveness, Rocky style

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The closer the election gets, the more I love my dog. And once it’s over, I’ll love him even more. Recently my Rocky has gotten me thinking about a certain quality, one he demonstrates every time we’re out on the non-campaign trails (= daily). In humans, it’s just about always considered a good thing. In dogs, maybe not quite so much. What is it? Stick-to-it-iveness. By that I mean, in canine terms at least, something like “the compulsion to find … Read More
25 Oct 2016

Trading One Kind of Tumult for Another: The Beatles as Antidote

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As the World Series gets underway, it’s as good a time as any to celebrate the idea of fervor, in a variety of forms. I propose to start with baseball, move gingerly through politics to rock & roll, and end up at religion. Are you with me? Defined as “an intense and passionate feeling,” the word can definitely go either way—that is, there can be a kind you like and another kind you can’t stand. The fervor that Chicago fans … Read More
8 Aug 2016

Questions About Meaning Even Before Religion Class Begins

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Sometimes, when you’re solidly in the realm of Practicality, focused on getting things done in the real world and making sure others do the same, Philosophy intervenes and then you’re somewhere else entirely. One minute you’re thinking about sending an email before 10:15 a.m., for instance, and the next minute you’re wondering whether there is in fact a larger purpose– beyond all the tasks– that we’re trying to fulfill, and what might be the nature of that purpose, if it … Read More
21 Mar 2016

The Passion and All Of Our Other Passions

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Spring began with a snowfall last night, while a single word from the season offers contrasting meanings, bringing the religious and secular worlds into collision yet again. I feel right at home. Yesterday the sky was clear blue and the air fresh and cold for Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. And so the Passion begins. In my particular life, this marks just over a quarter of a century since I’ve been fully aware—or at least as fully aware … Read More

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