Our Mothers, in Different Versions
Mother’s Day is supposed to be one of those “One Size Fits All” holidays, or at least that’s how the marketing forces would have it, but of course we know better. A day thus designated affects people in a whole…
Sacrifices Come in All Shapes and Sizes
Easter is in the rear view mirror now, but I can’t shake the whole concept of sacrifice – giving up something for the sake of something else. Like a kind of shawl, it’s hanging around my shoulders. Only it’s not…
At the End of Easter, about a Beginning
Here’s a recently updated essay about Easter that you may find familiar, from a previous appearance in this blog. (A sign that it’s time for me to wind all this business up?) Anyway, yesterday it was published in THE CONCORD…
Going to the Rim, Forever UConn
Passover is well underway, and my husband is out washing feet tonight because it’s also Maundy Thursday. Before Easter gets the best of us, at least around here, I want to cast a backward glance and try to offer up…
The Varieties of Religious Experience, Updated
When our first son was born, a good friend and upstairs neighbor gave us a HUGE black and white mounted photograph of the philosopher William James. I’ll have to ask him again where he got it, but he always did…
Twenty-five Years Later, and Still Forthright
Contrasting colors side-by-side, juxtapositions, jarring differences: these have been my bread and butter in this blog. Sometimes a kind of first cousin– let’s call it coincidence –comes around, wanting a little attention, too. With coincidence, there’s usually more of a…
Let It Go, Sure, but Know When (What) To Hold On Too (To)
Isn’t it a little weird that the hit song “Let It Go” is from a movie called Frozen? I mean — one is all about fluidity and movement, the other about being stuck in one place. Maybe there’s something here…
Religion, Transformed
How far can religion go into the popular culture until it doesn’t even resemble religion at all? In my mind’s eye, I see a robed figure, walking with dignity, gradually being enveloped in a crowd of people who are…
Bach to the Future
Is it possible to keep two independent melodies, or maybe even three or four, going in our heads at the same time? And, if it is possible, is it advisable? That is, can maintaining the integrity of each actually help…
Dear Readers: Comments, Please!
Sometimes, on just a regular day, you find precisely the right cartoon. A few years from now, no doubt, I will look back on these times and say something like the first part of what this dog says. Here’s hoping…