Writings, Reviews, Cultural Criticism
We assume, without question, that our lives must conform to the strictures of an unwavering consistency. But this is impossible. And yet we further burden ourselves by demanding that we apply this standard over time, inquiring about yesterday’s behaviour to ensure that it is consistent with today’s.
This week, we all go back to school. The holidays away from school have reminded me why it is I keep slogging it out as a student. There is something important about a student’s viewpoint.
There is a metaphor for the religious life that has been gaining ground for years now. In fact, it is an ancient metaphor. But you hear a lot about it nowadays. We speak of the religious life as a journey. We are on a faith journey.
Fall term is over. I can only describe it as harrowing. To on outsider, I am certain there was little indication of the interior foment.
I haven’t had much blogging time as I’m struggling to finish two papers for the end of term. One is on Martin Luther and in my reading, I stumbled upon an interesting digression about the Kabbala. We’ve all been hearing more about Kabbala lately. It’s all the rage in Hollywood. And its chief pop proponent is that intellectual giant and spiritual icon, Madonna.
Some would have us believe that this snazzy P2P app is for the information age what newsprint was to movable type. And so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.
This is a question that has plagued me for some time now—at least since lunch time. After all, this is the man who distinguished himself in 1991 by becoming the only Canadian ever to be arrested for selling his writing.
In this month’s issue of Wired, there is an article which gives me much encouragement. It’s an account of a psychologist named Gordon Rugg who, in his spare time, has devoted himself to the puzzle of the Voynich manuscript. This is a medieval manuscript which appears to have been encrypted by its author. No one…
This is a war story – doing battle with the complicated world we have created for ourselves. I was acting for a young man, and at our last court appearance, his mother told a tale on him while we were waiting in the lobby.
Last night, my son and I went to see Collateral, the new Michael Mann action flick starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. It was a slick show, and both leads gave a little extra so that their characters weren’t mere ciphers in a pro forma script.
The metaphor contains an inherent danger. We often fall into the trap of co-opting the metaphor as a source of meaning rather than as a tool for conveying meaning.
Today, as we were driving home from dinner, my wife Tamiko said, “Look! An apricot standard walking.” What she was trying to tell me?