Category Archives: Living My Life

Below the surface of Genesis

Posted on May 4, 2020 by hessd

I’ve been spending a fair amount of time recently reading scholarly analyses of the first three chapters of Genesis. I will leave until later the question of whether this is the best use of virus-generated free time. What I would … Continue reading →

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The First Ten Years, Part I

Posted on May 3, 2020 by hessd

I posted my first blog on May 30, 2010. It would be fair to say, in some ways, that I have been just sitting here [1] writing essays ever since. Over the ten years, I have averaged about 180,000 words … Continue reading →

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“Spiritual therapy”

Posted on April 26, 2020 by hessd

I have no idea what spiritual therapy is.  I haven’t even consulted Wikipedia.  I do have some idea about physical therapy, however, and I want to approach “spiritual therapy” using that analogy.[1] Physical Therapy Here’s what my experience with physical … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Sustainability, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Staying Busy

Posted on April 19, 2020 by hessd

This is a COVID—19 sort of speculation. [1] The COVID pandemic and our plan to bend the curve of new infections downward has led to a lot of urging that people stay home. To help us stay home, the management … Continue reading →

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Viewing the virus

Posted on April 9, 2020 by hessd

You get such a different sense of just what the virus means when you look at it generally than when you look at it locally,  And, of course, you get a different sense entirely when you focus on what it … Continue reading →

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What keeps me up at night

Posted on March 31, 2020 by hessd

It’s not just worrying about things. I get roused out of sleep by new ideas, too. And I don’t really mind that. I wish I got more sleep, but I would hate to miss out on the ideas. I’m better … Continue reading →

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God and the plague

Posted on March 21, 2020 by hessd

I would like to think a little today about the corona virus. Let’s start with Genesis 6: 5, 6 Yahweh saw that human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing but wicked schemes all day long. … Continue reading →

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A Sign of the Times at Starbucks

Posted on March 19, 2020 by hessd

Over the years, Starbucks has made me happy in a lot of different ways.  They did it again this morning and I’d like to tell you about it. Here in Portland, Oregon, we have begun to take the Coronavirus seriously.  … Continue reading →

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Zen agency

Posted on February 28, 2020 by hessd

I’ve been thinking about agency a lot lately. A agency is fundamental to being human; the costs of giving up on it are catastrophic. By “agency,” I mean only having the sense of acting on your own behalf. In Martin … Continue reading →

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Hello, Mark Galli

Posted on January 4, 2020 by hessd

I had never heard of Mark Galli before today.  He is the outgoing editor of Christianity Today, which is described—except by President Trump—as “an evangelical journal.” [1]  According to his interview with Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs in the New York Times, he … Continue reading →

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