Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
I have to confess that I enjoyed the "Ugley Vicar" John Richardson's exposition on women bishops in the Church of England as it relates to the CoE's relationship with the state. I recommend it highly, especially to my American readers, who generally don't think in terms other than the construct we have. (And that, sad …
Continue reading "Women Bishops in the CoE: Cutting the Knot or Tying It?"
(Destiny D-4404-S) 1971 "Jesus Music" was, by definition, evangelistic. It also tended to be folksy; there were many in the movement who had strong reservations about the use of straight-up rock 'n roll for Christian music. (There were others who didn't, but I digress.) Phoenix Sonshine epitomised that sound and that message with this evangelistic, …
And why not? Wild bottlenose dolphins bond over their use of tools, with distinct cliques and classes forming over decades as a result of their skills, scientists have found. The communities, which have been compared with societies such as the Bullingdon Club in humans, mean the aquatic animals share their knowledge only with those in …
Continue reading "The Palm Beach Way of Exclusivity is in the Animal Kingdom, Too"
One question that Christians often ask each other is “What preacher (or minister or priest) had the greatest influence on your life?” For me that’s never been an easy question to answer, especially in the church I’m in now. Most people would assume that the church I’ve ended up with produced the most influential one, …
Continue reading "The Most Important Minister: My Tribute to Fr. Donald F.X. Connolly"
However small, however modest, however tentative this may be, it will perpetually give rise to contests and divisions. And this quest of a common denominator in contrasting convictions can develop nothing but intellectual cowardice and mediocrity, a weakening of minds and a betrayal of the rights of truth. (Jaques Maritain, True Humanism, Bles, 1938, p. …
Continue reading "What Happens When Everyone Is Supposed to Believe the Same"
Next month, Lord willing, I start the second year of my PhD adventure in Computational Engineering. "Adventure" is a good way to describe it, especially in my superannuated state. In the midst of getting the coursework started last fall (yes, Europeans, sad to say we have coursework with PhD programmes) we had a "freshman" orientation. …
Century 27269 (1965) For those of you who survived the 1960's folk Mass scene, some questions: did you ever wonder how "Kumbayah" became emblematic of people sitting around, holding hands? Or why Michael had to row the boat ashore when technology of the time had outboard motors (as depicted on the right)? Or why, with …
Continue reading "Frederick Gere and Milton Williams: The Winds of God"
Club memberships have been a part of my family tradition since the Gilded Age. Although it isn't one of our more prestigious memberships, my business membership in Sam's Club is doubtless one of the more useful. One of the nice perks with such a membership is the ability to get in and get your shopping …
Continue reading "The Importance of Keeping the Riff-Raff Out"
Temple Emanu-El and the Town of Palm Beach go to the mat on another absurd "code violation": Temple Emanu-El must reduce the number of seats in its auditorium by more than half, or obtain Town Council approval for the 542 seats that it has. In a July 12 code violation notice, the town informed the …
Continue reading "It's Always Something with a House of Worship, and That Includes a Synagogue"
One of the most ill-starred love stories of the last century was that of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra. Neither was equipped by temperament or upbringing to lead an absolute monarchy into World War I. Nicholas was a weak-willed heir thrust into his role prematurely and unwillingly by the death of his …
Positive Infinity 