Monthly Archives: January 2016

Black Quarterbacks

Posted on January 29, 2016 by hessd

How do blacks act? I think that is a genuinely stupid question. I wouldn’t put it in this essay at all if I didn’t hear it on the radio most days.  Ordinarily it isn’t said; it is presumed. Last weekend, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Words | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survivor’s Guilt

Posted on January 24, 2016 by hessd

Are we guilty just for having survived intact? Would it be better if we were obligated to those who have not? Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My “Going Home” Plan

Posted on January 21, 2016 by hessd

I’ve been in a lot of conversations lately that have to do with death and afterwards. And yesterday, Bette and I met with an “estate planner,” hoping to find a way to leave our property as gently as we hope … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Studies, Getting Old, Living My Life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Concussion

Posted on January 16, 2016 by hessd

I have seen the movie Concussion three times now. [1] And I have read the book twice. So I think it would be fair to say that I am a fan. I tend to talk about movies that I liked … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Auden wrote a mountain

Posted on January 11, 2016 by hessd

Every year I climb a mountain of a poem, getting, each year, a step or two closer to the top. If it has a top. It is W. H. Auden’s, For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio. We read it … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Does a Marriage Ever “End?”

Posted on January 9, 2016 by hessd

I have had occasions where I felt I needed to explain what kind of a married man I am/was. Here is the distinction I chose: I am romantic, but I am not sentimental. When I read Lucy Kalanithi’s account in … Continue reading →

Posted in Living My Life, Love and Marriage | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Heba Macksoud v. the Victim-Industrial Complex

Posted on January 2, 2016 by hessd

I am on the verge of saying that America has a Victim-Industrial Complex. Our society teaches  how to be a victim in the same focused and careful way special teams coaches teach punters how to fall down as if they … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Psychology, Society | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

And don’t forget to wash your hands

Posted on January 2, 2016 by hessd

According to John’s account, Jesus turned water into wine, really good wine, at a wedding in Cana. I have enjoyed that story for years and now, as an old man, I am beginning to get the beginnings of an idea … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Studies | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments