Meditations

At bottom, “localism is the belief that communities can and should find solutions to their own particular problems, within their own particular contexts.” The seeming irrefutability of this idea is…

One of the most renowned neuroscientists in the world, Gerald M. Edelman, calls the human brain “the most complicated material object in the known universe.” Edelman has advanced a theory…

When “2001, A Space Odyssey,” came out in 1968, I was in the 10th grade at a small Catholic high school in Michigan. Like many boys of my generation, I…

An old friend and I are having a friendly argument about how many people still give a damn. He thinks about 30% still care. I said it’s become more like…

As I write, Christianity is commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, which purportedly took place between noon and 3 pm on Good Friday before he physically resurrected from the…

This insight seized me in the shower this morning: Homo sapiens is an experiment in consciousness that is failing. Why are we failing, and can we stop?

Below my feet, after days of heavy rain, the little creek on the periphery of town is like a gray-green animal surging ferociously and relentlessly forward. Above my head, as…

In quick succession along the short path after the footbridge to the picnic site, there were three close encounters with animals. First, a stipple-winged woodland hawk alighted from the nearest…