Category Archives: Words

Angleworms

Posted on March 31, 2013 by hessd

Why are they called “angleworms,” do you suppose?  Right after I learned that they are not native to North America, I began to hope that we had imported them from England and that they might rightfully be called Angloworms.  It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Words | 2 Comments

It’s Providential. And That’s the Bad News.

Posted on February 17, 2013 by hessd

“What luck!” says the woman with the secular vocabulary.  “No,” says the man whose mouth is full of theology, “It’s providential.”  Does that exchange make any sense at all? Yes and No, I would say, if asked.  (On a blog, … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology, ways of knowing, Words | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What is God like?

Posted on January 28, 2013 by hessd

This is one of those “Why is the grass green?” kinds of questions.  I do want to try to answer it in the third of the pieces that make up this blog, but I have two prior questions. The first … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Studies, Uncategorized, ways of knowing, Words | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not really about Hef. It’s about you, you smug SOB

Posted on December 25, 2012 by hessd

Chuck Tatham has written an absolutely dizzying op-ed piece in the New York Times.  You really ought to read it for yourself.  It rubbed me in so many sore spots that I considered, only briefly, that I was having a … Continue reading →

Posted in Words | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Dangerous Architectural Innovations

Posted on July 12, 2012 by hessd

Here’s what I learned today: “In architecture, the apse (Greek αψις (apsis), then Latin absis: “arch, vault”; sometimes written apsis; plural apses) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome.”  That’s from Wikipedia.  Here’s what one of them … Continue reading →

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Robots are “better than nothing”

Posted on June 10, 2012 by hessd

Back in the old days, when there began to be science fiction fantasies about robots taking over the world, reassurance came with the line, “You can always just unplug them.”  And, with a quibble occasioned by robotic security measures, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Paying Attention, Politics, ways of knowing, Words | Tagged | 2 Comments

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave…

Posted on May 31, 2012 by hessd

I have two anecdotes to share today.  I still read Orwell’s 1984 every now and then, just to keep the calluses on my mind thick and supple.  It helps me deal with things like this. Whenever I go to the airport … Continue reading →

Posted in Words | 1 Comment

Church and State

Posted on April 10, 2012 by hessd

In Salem, Oregon, where I got nearly all my political training, there is a Church Street and a State Street.  The First Methodist Church of Salem sits there quietly at the intersection of Church and State where, by all rights, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Words | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Remembering to Leave in Time

Posted on March 11, 2012 by hessd

I want to raise the question here of how to decide when to go live in a Senior Center of some kind—I’m thinking of a nice generic name like Paleo Acres.  This could be a Paleo Acres; I guess I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, ways of knowing, Words | 9 Comments

A Defense of Dilettantes

Posted on February 28, 2012 by hessd

One of the pitfalls of thinking of yourself as “a person who knows things” is that you sometimes don’t have a clear sense of just what it is you know.  I’ve been a teacher for the last fifty years or … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Words | 4 Comments