Poem of the Week by Charles Reznikoff
I went to my grandfather’s to say good-bye:I was going away to a school out West.As I came in,My grandfather turned from the window at which he sat(sick, skin yellow, eyes bleary–but his hair still…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Share the Wealth with Social Workers: In Support of Magan Wiles
My friend Magan Wiles (actor, activist, correspondent, tangoista, mutual aider) just asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her as she wants to get a Master’s degree in Social Work at Cal State….
June Journal 2019
Hanna Krall: “All my books are about how very good human beings can be, and about how very bad they can be—something we are constantly discovering over and over again.” Chasing the King of Hearts,…
The Young Thich Nhat Hanh
Last fall I began brainstorming facilitating a class on the young Thich Nhat Hanh. After his passing last week and tonight’s Share the Wealth community expressing our gratitude for his teachings, I thought I’d go…
Nhat Hanh-isms
The following come from Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, The Miracle of Mindfulness, The Heart of Understanding, Peace Is Every Step, Being Peace, and Interbeing. Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile….
Share the Wealth: With Gratitude for Thich Nhat Hanh
I invite you to join us on Sunday 23 January for an hour of communal sharing of our gratitude for Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, who died earlier this week. Feel free to share a…
Breakdown Precedes Breakthrough
You’ve made the right choice. Believe me, today is a good day for you. These are tough decisions, I know. But we intellectuals, and I say we because I consider you such, must remain lucid…
Forever on the Alert
I’ve known Pat Geier almost 40 years. Not two months into the pandemic, we began Zooming on Fridays, then added Mondays, and before too long were immersed in reading and discussing the works of French…
Reflections on the Intellectual Life by Irina S.
In one of my classes, we are reading a variety of books on the love of learning. I asked Irina (a nom de plume) if she’d be willing to share a few reflections on Zena…
January 12, 1996
The first week of January was bright and bitterly cold. Pat Geier and Cristobhal, our friend from Guatemala, had spent Christmas and New Year’s with us and had already left for Louisville, but she was…