Dorothee Sölle Collage
Why had I never noticed the number of sick people who appear in the Gospels? Who or what made them sick? It was not theologians who invented the cross, rather, the Roman Empire thought up…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
The Better Guru
T.S. Eliot quoted Sanskrit in his famous poem “Om shanti shanti shanti” Meister Eckhart preached “Only the hand that erases can write the true thing” T.S. Eliot needed a better guru than Ezra Pound Someone…
Bella Levenshteyn Tells Me of Her Dream
Last night I walked the corridor Of a private Yad Vashem On one side of the hall Are the faces of the slaughtered Stripped of their outer layers Led to the fire Returning to dust…
Remembering Rosa Parks
That week Rosa Parks was lying in state in Washington, DC I asked the students what they knew of her There was the standard talk Her sitting down Her standing up How courageous she was…
An Exceptionally Good and Inspiring Day, Monday 15 April 2013
In the morning inside at Kaldi’s I visited with a former student Nineteen years old One of the strongest people I know “Strength does not come from Physical capacity It comes from An indomitable will”
I Renounce Hyperbole
You’re one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever met OK I see you don’t believe me You’re one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever met In this millennium The truth is like lightning…
Books
My father had an Appalachian education That went through sixth grade I went after and got a BA, MA And a PhD I doubt my father Ever finished reading a book (I once asked him…
Accompaniment during Cancer: A Discussion by and for Caregivers
AED “Health for All” Conference Saint Louis University BSC 254D 2:15-3:00 p.m. Facilitated by Mark Chmiel Deep Breathing 13.7 million: number of Americans with a history of cancer at the start of 2012 1,660,290: number…
Tears Are OK
I tell you a joke And no surprise You laugh You don’t censor your laughter Do you? No You only censor it If you realize It will hurt someone Your laughter is a natural outflow…
Kafka’s Axe
Dear Bella Levenshteyn, Was reading Kafka’s letters earlier today. The passage caught my eye: “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading…