Why did God give us the gift of imagination? If the idea of God giving us imagination puts you off, then why did evolution, or the universe, give it to…
Category: Culture
Some Thoughts On the Dolphins That Are (Not) in Venice
Shortly after the shelter-in-place orders started to show up at local and state governments across the land, I read somewhere — I don’t remember where — that dolphins had been…
Every Mystery is a Story
I have a guilty pleasure that I don’t think I’ve ever written about, here on my blog. Well, here goes: I’m a fan of Neil Gaiman. Years ago somebody told…
The Break-Up of the Beatles — and the Fragmented Spirituality of Our Age
Fifty years ago today — on April 10, 1970 — the Beatles announced that they were breaking up. We now know that this had been brewing for at least two…
A Lesson on Creativity and Risk-Taking from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Publisher
Today I had a conversation with a friend who is working on a manuscript for a book to be published in the next year or so. We were chatting about…
Martin Luther King Jr, the “Arc of the Moral Universe,” and Maintaining Faith in Difficult Times
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” When I thought I would write about Martin Luther King, Jr., that was the first quote that…
The Power of Powerlessness
At the climax of the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, young Harry meets his nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort, who was functioning like a parasite…
Kindness, Cynicism, and a Better World: A Contemplative Approach to Social Media — and Digital Civility
I don’t think it’s very shocking to acknowledge that we live in a cynical world. We have learned, especially over the last fifty years, to take pretty much everything our…
Some Thoughts on the Roaring 20s — for 2020 (and Beyond)
I’m writing this on the second day of January 2020 — and I’m mindful of an amusing meme that made its way around Facebook last week. By the time you…
How the Beatles Help Me Overcome Writer’s Block
I suppose most writers don’t like to talk about writers’ block. It’s not a pretty sight — to have a deadline looming, and every time you sit down at the…
A Hidden Life: Terrence Malick’s Heartbreaking, Essential, Contemplative Film
Terrence Malick is arguably the most contemplative director working in Hollywood today. Films like The Tree of Life and To The Wonder invite the viewer into Malick’s unique and perhaps idiosyncratic vision, combining strikingly…
Altamont, Auschwitz, Bethlehem, and My Lai — The Challenge of Contemplating the Dark Side
1969 was quite a year, and so in 2019 we’ve had plenty of “50th Anniversary” moments: marking the fiftieth anniversary of the first humans on the moon, of the Woodstock…