Can you recall an experience that filled you with wonder? “. . .once, years ago, in some kind of rapturous mistake, the deer did not run away, but walked toward me and touched my hands—and I have been, ever since,separated from my old, comfortable life of experience and deduction, I have been, ever since—exalted. . … read
A recent TED talk explored what lifestyle choices might enable a person to live to be a hundred. Developmental psychologist Susan Pinker studied the residents of a small village on the island of Sardinia where there are six times as many centenarians as on the Italian mainland, less than 200 miles away. There are 10 … read
During most weeks, I often find myself at the corner of 15th and Broadway, getting a cup of coffee, having lunch, or running some errand. For the past month or two, while in that area, I have seen an older woman sleeping under a blue tarp, shopping cart right by her head, in front of … read
What wakes you in the night? What are your fears? What voice do you hear that guides? I cannot remember a time in my life when I was a sound sleeper. Around age eight, I remember waking at 3a.m. and noticing that the shadow in the bedroom window was the shape of a man’s head. … read
This is a funny story, the story of the Magi’s visit to Jesus. It’s funny because, thanks to one particular hymn, and Amahl and the Night Visitors, and our sentimentality around the Christmas story, we have completely misremembered it. Here in the second chapter of Matthew is the only place in the whole of the … read