History is the process of the past negotiating its terms of surrender to the future. Although the past cannot defeat the future, it will do, and is currently doing, all it can, to break as many hearts as possible in the present. Cruelty seems to be the guiding principle of those in power, in theContinue reading “The Presence of the Past”
Category Archives: essay
Conservatives and Liberals and Soccer and Religion
We live in societies that have lost the ability to clearly communicate across the divides we have created for ourselves. Or so I thought yesterday. Today, laid up with a bum back, I got to watch the American soccer team’s celebration in my home town, and I heard one of its captains, Megan Rapinoe, sayContinue reading “Conservatives and Liberals and Soccer and Religion”
The Richness We Gain…
I didn’t know I could be happier to be a Yankees fan until they unveiled this plaque tonight in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium: In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the events at New York City’s Stonewall Inn, which sparked the modern LGBTQ movement. This plaque serves to honor the struggle for equality and isContinue reading “The Richness We Gain…”
Victor Hugo and the French Aesthetic
I have long admired, even loved, the French but I don’t think I ever quite understood why until I read Victor Hugo. Their commitment to liberty inspired two revolutions – America’s and their own – that created the best of the world we live in today. They are more responsible than anyone for the evolutionContinue reading “Victor Hugo and the French Aesthetic”
To the poet, philosopher, and saint…
To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine. For the eye is fastened on life, and slights the circumstance. Every chemical substance, every plant, every animal in its growth, teaches the unity of cause, the variety of appearance. RalphContinue reading “To the poet, philosopher, and saint…”
