Crying Out for Sympathy

Life is very daunting for many people. If we keep our ears and our eyes open, we may find that many people need some encouragement; some need empathy; others, sympathy. I vividly recall a conversation with a man a few short months ago. Almost the entire conversation involved him telling me of his various physical […]

One of the loveliest of pop songs from the 70s comes to us courtesy of Barbra Streisand. The song, written by Marvin Hamlisch, is titled “The Way We Were” and was used in the film of the same name starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The lyrics are at once evocative of melancholy and nostalgia: […]

Having recently finished reading Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules For Life I find myself reflecting on many of his thought-provoking themes. His book carries the subtitle An Antidote to Chaos, a theme that permeates many of its 368 pages of challenging prose. In pointing out that the scientific world view is a mere 500 years old, […]

Fans of Jimi Hendrix are sometimes astonished to learn that the popular Hendrix tune “All Along the Watchtower” is actually a cover tune of a song originally composed by Bob Dylan. For those not clear on what I mean by the term “cover,” periodically some artist or band will record a song that is a […]

There is a passage in the Hebrew Bible, located within what is referred to as the Wisdom Literature, that has always caught my attention. It’s found in the book of Proverbs, 23rd chapter, 7th verse. In the King James vernacular, it reads as follows: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” It […]

I recently posted something fairly innocuous on social media. I was commenting on the beauty and the virtue of a certain edifice of sacred significance, a place of profound meaning and enlightenment. There shouldn’t have been anything controversial about what I said. And yet, a certain small but deeply troubled demographic that lurks among us […]

It feels good to laugh. Laughter is a real “high” as endorphins are released into the bloodstream, providing an emotional sensation that is almost euphoric. Sometimes we get to laugh at ourselves, and it is good if we do so. We shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. Other times we get to laugh with others (notice […]

I recently (Issue #302) wrote about bullying in this column. I received a lot of feedback on that piece, and it got me thinking about bullying even further. It has since occurred to me that a less violent form of bullying often occurs in more professional settings by insecure individuals who wish to push their […]

I find the entire saga of the Fall of Adam and Eve utterly fascinating and thought provoking. While virtually all of the known Christian dogmas on this consequential occurrence view the Fall with regret, remorse, and disdain (often blaming Eve for succumbing to the temptations of Lucifer, who approached her through the medium of a […]

I attended Junior High School in Los Altos, a posh little community located in Northern California, in a region today known as Silicon Valley. The school was called Egan Junior High School. It encompassed 7th and 8th grade. I didn’t care for the place, even though we had it pretty good. I remember feeling apprehensive […]