Winter Storm Fern has disrupted life for approximately 230 million people in the United States. C.S. Lewis and Oliver Burkeman have a few things to say about interruptions… From Meditations for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman… What’s an interruption, anyway?…
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Last week’s foray into German words for post-Christmas feelings made me go hunting for a book I had half-forgotten, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. “Its mission,” writes author John Koenig, “is to shine a light on the fundamental strangeness…
I’m starting the new year with this question in mind. Oliver Burkeman, in Meditations for Mortals, suggests it as an approach to just about everything. Hear him out! It’s genius. “Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious.” -Attributed…
Here’s a terrific non-traditional holiday read for you or someone on your gift list: The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us, by John J. Lennon. I found it on the New York Times…
We don’t really know anyone else’s heart or mind. Or what they might be capable of. We know this – right? – if we’ve lived long enough. Ian McEwan’s new novel What We Can Know conveys this truth. The joy…
His hand shook as he told the very short story of the angel who came to earth with a torch and pail. I wasn’t going to tell you this, he said, smiling, but I’ve decided to. This is what Richard…
This weekend I’m at a seminar hosted by the Center for Action and Contemplation, Richard Rohr’s spiritual think tank in Albuquerque. A stroke, a heart attack, and cancer treatments have taken their toll on Rohr. He was rolled onto stage…
I picked up a book for its title, “Things in Nature Merely Grow.” I liked its green ombré cover in shades of moss and was familiar with the author, Yiyun Li. Soon I felt both horror and awe: this is the book Li wrote…
“…. I set off in search of a cup of tea. At Hakujukan, the lodge next to Eiheiji, I encountered a friendly [Buddhist] nun with a kind, open face. I asked her a question, and we fell into easy conversation.”…