In everyday conversation, and in most situations requiring a verbal response, we take for granted that the simple expression of words in the appropriate order will suffice to communicate the basic information that will satisfy the immediate question at hand. If someone asks you what kind of day you are having, your first inclination is … Continue reading Poetry: The Language of the Spirit
Before I was able to relinquish my tenuous grasp on consciousness after working through the night, The irresistible call of the spring morning sun pulled my heart and mind to delay fitful sleep for a moment of blissful, temperate contemplation of the season's gifts; waves of sunlight, gentle breaths of wind, tranquil murmur of memories-- … Continue reading Echoes of the Moment
Recent criticism of the Templeton Organization by science writer John Horgan in his blog on Scientific American, “Cross Check” asked the question, “Is there such a thing as a spiritual fact? This question is brought to mind by the Templeton Prize, which was given last week to the British astrophysicist Martin Rees.” Horgan states his … Continue reading Spiritual Information
After work tonight, exhausted but grateful for the opportunity to work, I slipped a classical music CD into the player and slowly pulled out of the parking lot. Since I have only recently begun working on the overnight shift, I have struggled to adjust to the hours which have me traveling to work when most … Continue reading Keeping Myself Going
Conventional wisdom these days isn't much help when we look ahead to the future of life on earth, since life is fairly unconventional these days by most reckonings, and even what might previously have been described as common sense hardly seems common at all anymore. If there is any consolation to the currently prevailing uncertainty … Continue reading Human Intelligence, Computers, and Consciousness
Ever since the invention of languages and the realization of a deeper meaning to our existence, human beings have felt the need to express what they find within. Our inner worlds, far richer and profoundly more expansive than the world without, permit the creative expression of that world, but in terms that must attempt to … Continue reading The Spirit of Poetry
Stepping out on the back porch this morning, I was greeted by brilliant sunlight and a most welcome change to a milder air temperature, and the experience of the moment prompted me to open the window in my office for the first time since the air turned chilly last autumn. The trees outside the window … Continue reading Making Sense of Experience
During a spoken tribute that I delivered at a recent family gathering to celebrate my brother's birthday, I expressed the following sentiment: There are many changes that take place in a lifetime, some are fleeting and some lasting, which can alter us in ways we did not expect or want, but which, nonetheless, result in … Continue reading Changes Through Time
It is human life. We are blown upon the world; we float buoyantly upon the summer air a little while, complacently showing off our grace of form and our dainty iridescent colors; then we vanish with a little puff, leaving nothing behind but a memory--and sometimes not even that. I suppose that at those solemn … Continue reading Echoes of Humanity
Twenty-five years ago, on January 28, 1986, the world lost seven of its best and brightest citizens when the space shuttle Challenger was destroyed as it launched into space. Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Christa McAuliffe, and Gregory Jarvis were lost when their spacecraft exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on … Continue reading The Human Spirit
