Don't despair your mother loves you. Don't be proud because she has to.
As I mentioned in a prior essay I’ll do my best to neither assume knowledge of, nor import too much information from extra-textual stories about the Trojan war when discussing the primary topics of interest in this series. I think it worth a moment to make a brief catalog of things that are either explicitly... Continue Reading →
I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I made it into my 30s before I learned the truth about the Iliad. It's not the story of the Trojan war. Perhaps I wasn’t listening in the 9th grade when we read selections from the Odyssey. My recollection is that we were told that The Odyssey took place... Continue Reading →
Have you ever given much thought to the concept of hope? I haven’t. Not really. What is it exactly? Is it substantially different from wishful thinking or a simple expression of desire? It is often enumerated as a virtue, is it genuinely virtuous to develop? If so, why and how? Some folks are capable of... Continue Reading →
Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for many years. I love it for many reasons. I like how we celebrate our time of plenty in transition from the soft light of autumn harvest to the colder, darker, depths of winter. It's a great party feasting with friends and family. It is one of the few... Continue Reading →
The Maelstrom Imagine, if you will, you find yourself in Athens in 429 BCE. Your city is emerging from a siege imposed by the Spartans. The confinement of the siege, as is often the case, resulted in a plague that ravaged the population. You almost certainly either had the disease yourself and had a brush... Continue Reading →
I strongly suspect almost nobody on the planet managed to get through my ramblings on The Book of Job. That’s fine. I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt my feelings. I’m not even disappointed. It was really long, and full of heresy and digressions, and was primarily intended for an audience of one, and I enjoyed it.... Continue Reading →
Job's closing soliloquy is absolutely wonderful. In a book full of well formed imagery it stands out, and I'm tempted to quote the entire thing as I discuss it. That feels like a bit of overkill, but I’ve never let that stop me before. The first part of chapter 29 is Job looking back at... Continue Reading →
Eliphaz is scandalized. Job has clearly gone off the rails. How can Job so defiantly proclaim his righteousness and innocence? If anything, Job's pride constitutes a major sin. Essentially he reiterates the same view with, at best, a subtle new insight. Job has noted that even the innocent suffer catastrophe and misfortune, Eliphaz’s response seems... Continue Reading →
For a variety of reasons I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading and re-reading The Book of Job over the past few months. It’s been really thought provoking. I feel like I’ve re-learned some old lessons, challenged several long-held assumptions, and had some new insights, and I feel like writing may help clarify my... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. My thoughts were a bit too long to give a complete account in a 12 minute talk. I decided it would be nice to put out a version where I said what I wanted to say without a time constraint. Anyone who has... Continue Reading →
MaximumKungFu 