From one point of view, eating is disgusting.  Think about the praying mantis eating the helpless salamander on the giant screen complete with amplified sounds of crunching.  Lest you think that humans are more elegant, consider tourists in Maine, cracking open lobsters and sucking juice out of those little tiny legs.  Yikes! We could continue…read more

In his poem on Children in The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran tells parents, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending…read more

Why do we read books?  The best answer to this question comes from examining the broader question of why do we do anything.   In considering the myriad of choices that face us in this very minute of existence, we will choose what, we think, will make us the happiest.  Animals, even protozoa, follow this fundamental…read more

Reading a “high quality” book, perhaps one favorably reviewed by the New York Times, can make you feel challenged, confused, sad, not up to snuff.  Maybe you will have to face the fact that you really don’t understand what the heck is going on.  I say why spend money and time to feel inadequate?  You…read more