Art = Survival
I had my second son Jeremiah in 1970. Between taking care of two children and the house, I had very little time to create. I felt like I was going to lose myself. Out of…
Month: February 2020
Share the Wealth with Bob Suberi: A Delegation to Palestine
Growing up as a Labor Zionist in the 50’s and 60’s instilled a sense of community and pride in being a Jew. Although I grew up in a predominately white Christian suburb of Los Angeles,…
“Doing Your Best Is the Surest Way to Remind Those around You to Do Their Best”
Today in Intercultural Studies class I shared some famous passages from the manual Thich Nhat Hanh wrote for Vietnamese social workers back in the 1970s. If you are familiar with this Zen Master, you may…
Share the Wealth with Justin Lorenz: Shinkansen, Onsen, & Zen–Japan from the Inside
Allow me to take you on a train ride from Tokyo down to Nagasaki and back, as I did in Japan for three fascinating weeks last fall. Encounter my promotional campaign for the “Pocari Sweat”…
Grandpa by Candice Simon
Candice shared this with me, and gave me permission to post it here. January 26, 2020 I am doing well despite the grief and emotional trauma of this month. I truly feel that taking care…
Cultivating Attention and Animating Conscience: Reading Thoreau in Desperate Times
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I…
Share the Wealth with Jack Renard: Reflections on a Life in Islamic Studies
This sharing will revolve around questions I get frequently: Whatever led you to choose this as an academic specialization? Why does Islamic religious studies matter? What do Islamic religious studies specialists actually study, and what…
All Part of the Great Life Force
Mayumi Oda, I Opened the Gate, Laughing: An Inner Journey Mayumi’s inner journey meant getting divorced from her husband (John Nathan) and reconnecting with the Buddhism of her youth, as well as finding her path…
The Russians
It should come as no surprise that black folks would immerse themselves in this Russian literary tradition that is so profound in its willingness to raise unsettling questions. They say when you go into James…
Act Two by Andrew Wimmer
My friend Andrew Wimmer emailed the following to some of us, and gave me permission to share here… In May 2016, Adam Gopnik wrote in The New Yorker: “There is a simple formula for descriptions…