Head-dibs

 

Have you ever noticed that you feel compelled to do something when you hear or read a good story? You can’t quite put your finger on it but there is this knowledge that you want to take some kind of action, like be a better person. Sure, we like to read or listen to something for entertainment, but what remains when we are finished? Warm fuzzies that ultimately dissipate and get lost in the shuffle of the day. It’s nearly impossible to recall that feeling once it’s gone. But there are some elements we encounter that leave a lasting impression because we are impelled take some kind of action. Remember those tomes of literature we used in high school and college. Did you ever notice how many discussions were had over those stories? If you still have one, crack it open and notice the questions at the end of each contribution. How many imparted some kind of moral lesson or set an example to be followed? Perhaps you did not notice your conscience responding to what you read or heard yet you...

Now that the pump’s been primed, I’ve been taking mental notes on what to write again. One individual came drifting out of past memory who might well have been the person who started it all: Mrs. Satterwhite. I hope she’ll forgive the way in which I remember her, for I was in second or third grade when in her care. I remember her foremost as The Great Storyteller and I am confident that if we were to gather any other now grown school children, they too might have the same memory of her storytelling.   I recall her in a nearly cartoonish way (again, I hope she’ll forgive me). While not being quite sure of her age, I remember her grandmotherly silhouette. She was a fairly large woman, maybe in her 50’s or 60’s, who wore flowery dresses and heavy shoes. Her legs were stout and covered by that kind of half-stockings that never seemed to stay up. Her hair was shoulder length and kept in the style of an older woman in the early 1970’s.  During recess, she sat in a chair under t...

"Good writing," pens best-selling author, thinker, and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head."  Part of my work-daily routine since July 2020 is the nearly 2-hour commute to and from work. I've drifted through hours of music, audiobooks, phone calls, or just spending quiet time drifting through my head. Not much in there anymore, it seems. The head to the soul/spirit is like the stomach to the body--it must be fed. All these months I've wrestled with life as it now is and truthfully, I hate it. For nearly 20 years I worked in my niche and then everything changed. My routine was destroyed and I've struggled to find a way to piece back a semblance of what I had, which included feeding my soul and strengthening my spirit. Anyone who knows me understands how import...

Since losing my job at the university back in March, I've been trying to regain a semblance of order. Life as we knew it no longer exists, and ironically, that truth extends far out of my experience as the world itself has completely changed. The power of the irony lies in the timing in which everything happened. All the patterns have changed.  The practice of reading and writing have all but disappeared in my life as my daily routine is not what it once was, so finding the time to do either or both is a challenge. Morning starts early around here and nights often go late. The days are full of other matters requiring attention, so sitting down to read or write does not come easy--until recently.  I've tried listening to books during my two-hour (total) commute but I have a difficult enough time trying to stay awake, especially on the way home--even with music blasting and A/C on full. My attention drifts or I am distracted by how something is being read and can't really pay...

 

Sanders, J. Oswald. 2007. Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer . Chicago: Moody. “It is perhaps surprising that in the century that saw around 100 million people die because of the lunatic beliefs of political ‘leaders’, people in our time should have become obsessed with leadership and its applications in diverse fields—religious, military, political, entertainment, sport, arts and more.” (Spillane and Joullie, 2015, viii). Blackaby and Blackaby agree, indicating that “bookstore shelves overflow with leadership theories” (Blackaby and Blackaby, 2001, x). How has Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders maintained for so long in the presence of boundless leadership material? First printed in 1967, Sanders’ book is among the first in present-day literature to make an impact. The present volume under review exists as the third reprinting, last revised in 2007. Regardless of the publication date, this work has contributed to the works of many Christian ...

10 or 12 years ago I was enraptured with John Steinbeck's "East of Eden." While I am sure the name "Marcus Aurelius" came to my attention in much earlier study, I can say without a doubt that it was Steinbeck's multiple references to "Meditations" that locked the good Emperor into my brain.  While researching for my dissertation, I was amazed (read: "downright thrilled") to find a scholarly article discussing the influence of both the Bible and "Meditations" on Steinbeck's book, "East of Eden." Not only has one's personal affinity for Steinbeck sweetened, but the article demonstrates how deeply integrated "Meditations" is into the plot. The source material is as follows (might require an academic log-in):  Brannon, Brian. 2009. “A Tiny Volume Bound in Leather: The Influence of Marcus Aurelius on East of Eden.” Steinbeck Review. Vol. 6, no. 2: 23-27. " . . . read carefully, and not to b...

While working on my 60+ bibliographical annotations, this book is getting much attention.

I'm at the point in my life where I could be happy with a small armload of books. When I survey the blocks of paper occupying my shelves, I am grateful for the minds who share their thoughts in them, but it's a crowd of voices. I'd like to surround myself with a few great men who have great things to say--the kind of men who would pull a knife from their pocket, slice off a chunk of apple and ruminate with horse-sense on things that really matter. I am spending some time with an old friend I've not visited in well over 30 years. I'm out on a pond outside Concord, Massachusetts. You might know the place, on the way to Boston. You might know my friend, the anarchist Henry David Thoreau. Giving the Stoics a break, I'm reading Thoreau's "Walden And Civil Disobedience" with pencil in hand. No agenda. Just visiting. Just one book from the pile I'd rescue from a fire or wouldn't mind being stranded with. (I carry three in my backpack at all t...

Read Seneca's letter on Shared Knowledge here.

"  . . . restlessness is the sign of a disordered spirit. . . a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company." (Seneca, Letter 2)

"Within a ten-month period, [Rush drummer and lyricist] Neil Peart suffered family losses so devastating that they left him a ghost -- physically a man but with nothing. No hope, meaning, faith, or desire to keep living. One year after the first tragedy, Neil was choosing between life and his own death. Finally, all he could decide upon was motion. He got on his BMW R1100GS motorcycle, and over the next 14 months, rode 55,000 miles, in search of a reason to live. On a journey of escape, exile, and exploration, he traveled from Quebec to Alaska, down the Canadian and American coasts and western regions, to Mexico and Belize, and finally back to Quebec. While riding 'the Healing Road,' Neil recorded in his journals his progress and setbacks in the grieving /healing process, and the pain of constantly reliving his losses. He also recorded with dazzling, colorful, entertaining, and moving artistry, the enormous range of his travel adventures, from the mountains to the sea,...

The origin (and subsquently, the meaning of) "Crescit Eundo" (the motto of the great state of New Mexico) is widely debated. One might suggest that the primary reason for debate is due to the lack of readers. The phrase is found in a 1st Century text called "De Rerum Natura," ("On The Nature Of Things") written by Lucretius, an Epicurean philosopher.  Epicureans maintained some strange ideas but many were actually right, such as the design of nature (personally, Stoicism is the better choice). Lucretius held that all matter was composed of particles invisible to the naked eye. With this in mind, Lucretius wrote about lightening, and this caused a stir, for popular opinion was that lightning was a demonstration of anger from the gods. Lucretius, on the other hand, proposed that those particles were acting and reacting to one another, that nature was doing what it was designed to do and no gods were tossing...

Eight months ago I ditched my "to read" list and have focused exclusively on four books. That was a good decision. My intention is to continue reading these four books until always, but I'm in need of a small diversion. Since my favorite band of all time ever is "Rush" (intelligent rock and real music), I am enjoying another book by the greatest drummer and lyricist of all time: the quiet comedian and arm-chair philosopher, Neil Peart. "Far And Away: A Prize Every Time" (2011)

"Indeed how could exile be an obstacle to a person's own cultivation? Or to attaining virtue when no one has ever been cut off from learning or practicing what is needed by exile?" (Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 9.37, 39) Is one bettered by what sits on one's shelf, or by what one reads? Having invested so much time, money and space to the collection of so many books (and there are fewer in possession now than in time past), one wonders how many are for the sake of personal vanity and not personal cultivation. A person may not necessarily read a title but having it close it hand "for reference" brings a level of personal comfort--but when will that time come? And if that time never comes, then what is the purpose of collecting the title? Ever walk into an office and see a collection of books on a side table and notice how out out of place those books seem? Why does an insurance office have a embossed copies of "Moby Dick" and "Jane Eyre...

That's right. Stop reading. Of course to find the reason why, you must keep reading. Bear with me a moment, please. Marcus Aurelius left himself a note at the beginning of his personal journal, a note to himself, that simply says, "throw away your books." Another Roman senator wrote to his friend encouraging him to stop gorging himself on books. What kind of advice is this? How is one to learn, to gain wisdom if one does not read? Is experience enough? Do we have enough resources within reach without reading? We are drowning in information and a high percentage of that information means absolutely nothing. Among other things, this very blog bears a number of posts regarding reading and I confess that I've done my part in contributing to--well, let's just say, "the pile." What do we have the ancients did not? The internet, blogs, magazines, e-zines, newspapers, and going a step further, various forms of media that include the news, entertainmen...

Hi. I'm James and I'm a Bibliophile. It's one thing to love books. It's another to love what's in them. So when someone says, "I love books," it might be good to ask "what do you mean?" They might not even know until you ask them. At a friends house not too long ago, I spied an ancient set of Robert Burns poetic works on a bookshelf. With permission I thumbed through the tomes, commenting on this or that poem, reading a couple out loud in my best Scottish brogue. My friend stared at me for a moment then said, "take 'em." Quickly pulling the set down and moving other books around so that his wife would not know they were gone, we snuck the books out to my car. He admitted the only reason they were on the shelf was for decoration. They knew nothing of Robert Burns or his poetry (gasp!). So I gladly took the books. Collecting books over the years, I must admit that only a few on my shelves are for decoration. But they are...