Monthly Archives: June 2015

The Equally Unlikely Pilgrimage of Maureen Fry

Posted on June 27, 2015 by hessd

The first time I read Rachel Joyce’s marvelous The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I followed Harold’s adventures very carefully. Why is his trip on foot to Berwick-upon-Tweed called “a pilgrimage?” What’s “unlikely” about it. Those seem to me good … Continue reading →

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Being “thin-skinned”

Posted on June 24, 2015 by hessd

At a meeting of the Northwest Corner Caucus recently, a medical friend of mine observed that an “insult” to the skin was so much easier to acquire when the skin had become thin and therefore vulnerable. I looked at him … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Words | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Premarital Sex and the Rhetoric of the Church

Posted on June 16, 2015 by hessd

Now there’s a title to be proud of. It has a moral category in it. It looks like it has a moral claim in it. It doesn’t but it looks like it. For men of my generation, the expression suggests … Continue reading →

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Seveneves

Posted on June 14, 2015 by hessd

Neal Stephenson has done it again.  The key word in this essay is going to be “it,” apparently.  There is a cluster of notions swirling around and I am counting on “it” to hold still so I can capture a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Paying Attention | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Being a patient of corporate Persons

Posted on June 11, 2015 by hessd

Every time a new part of my body goes bad—or some previous grievant goes bad in a new way—I get a new kind of doctor. I don’t get rid of the old ones. I like the old ones. I just … Continue reading →

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Bible “Headlines:” A Complaint

Posted on June 10, 2015 by hessd

  I’m going to approach this whole thing as a conspiracy.  I don’t think it is, except in the sense that all cultures are conspiracies—but I have a rant in mind and calling it a conspiracy will make it easier.  … Continue reading →

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