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The Christians and The Pagans
Tolerance is one of those words that seems to be said more frequently in the inverse than directly. While logic dictates that the ways we could be intolerant should be equal to the ways in which we’re tolerant, intolerance always seems to get top billing. Harsh words, actions, or worse catch our attention. But taking a step back, the division took root in our prior thinking. It begins the moment we shift from acknowledging the differences between us to judging them. We attribute a negative value to them. Consider, one of the first things we do upon making someone’s acquaintance is to compare notes on those things we have in common. We do this with little things like sharing…
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Worry
Approximately twelve times a year, I get to sit on an airplane. Setting aside the felt absence of my loved ones and the general inconveniences of travel, I love flying. The magnificent feat of air travel never fails to inspire me with a sense of wonder. I love having my head in the clouds, literally. I shared this with a friend recently to which she immediately responded, but don’t you worry about the plane crashing?? Actually, I don’t. But her comment made me think about the idea of worry…and worry as distinguished from fear. Worry is “to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; to fret”. It comes from Middle English weryen “to strangle, bite…
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The Perfect Age
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations. – Anais Nin At 46 years old, I have no way of knowing what percentage of my life has passed and what is yet before me. I like to believe I’ll live to be more than 100 years old. Some people say it’s crazy to want to live that long. “What happens when your body doesn’t work anymore?…
