“YOU NEVER KNOW what may cause tears. The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. A pair of somebody’s old shoes can do it. Almost any movie made before the great sadness that came over the world after the Second World War, […]
In preparing for our Foundation Course this fall I am reading (for the first time, I confess) Nietsche’s On Truth and Lie in the Extra-Moral Sense. In it he makes the comment that intellect was given so to the “most delicate, most evanescent beings in order to hold them for a minute in existence, from which otherwise, […]
Deane is absolutely right. It has always rubbed me the wrong way. Very similar to the way in which “Dean Dad,” a community college dean who blogs anonymously, would openly mock or criticize his faculty and others who were in their community. Oddly enough, Inside Higher Ed decided to make him a regularly contributor. Dean’s […]
It is oddly gratifying and encouraging that we live in perhaps a “golden” time for those who grieve and mourn. It is commonplace this time of year, in addition to the joyous posts of children on Santa’s lap and endless photos of cookies, to read posts by and about those who struggle to make it […]
After tragedy has occurred to us, fallen upon us, how do we walk on, lacing up those painful shoes I talked about in my poor analogy? How do we carry on, day after day? We must begin by being open to and accepting the grace that is offered to us. I consider what happed to the […]
Do you think the folks at Radio Free Babylon read my essay from last week? I would like to think so.
“It is what it is.” A phrase people utter when they are enduring a hardship or, just as often, when there is a problem they would rather not deal with. It is what it is. A horrible, trite phrase. Used all the time, devoid of any real meaning, and all too often intended as a […]
In mid-February 2017 we had a funeral for a beloved member of the parish. He had lived a long, full life and his family surrounded him at his departing and gathered for the service. The first reading was this beautiful passage from The Book of Wisdom (in the Apocrypha). Wis. 3:1 But the souls of the righteous are in […]
This past summer I wrote a series of devotions that were published on the Emerging Scholars Network blog1. Over the course of this week I will published them here on Targuman. I encourage you to take a look at ESN and consider supporting and contributing yourself. We will be holding a meet-up at this SBL this […]
UPDATE: While I first heard this a cover by Kerosene Halo, this is actually from Phil Madeira’s album “Motorcycle.” A great album and on sale! Buy it now and support PM, you will not regret it! Even the title song has a great story to it. Phil said he simply liked the pen and ink […]
