The Narthex

In the late sixties, I stayed a weekend at a Bruderhof and then hoped to experience the Shaker version of Heaven on Earth that Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, and Ralph Waldo Emerson had much admired. But I was late by about 100 years, for in 1968 their numbers had dwindled…

Decades ago I took a community college class in basic psychology. Other than the 40-something teacher, I was the oldest one there at age 30, sitting among younger adults in their late teens and early twenties. Here I was about to learn a painful lesson in human manipulation. The topic…

When I first saw news about the Occupy Wall Street movement in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan ten years ago, my reaction was a common one: “Get a job, you hippies.” A raucous mob of hooligans destroying public property and vandalizing police cars remained my abiding impression for several years. I’m…

When I was a high school sophomore in 1956, my ambitious father accompanied me to an interview at the plush home of a Phillips Andover Academy board trustee. At the time, the school adhered to a code of "WASP Ascendancy," breeding a ruling class where only sons of the upper…

Our pleasant Massachusetts suburban neighborhood smelled horrible on rare occasions. The perfume of  blooming lilacs across the road couldn’t mask the odor wafting on a hot summer breeze. One day my brother and I followed our noses and hiked into a forest bordering the local golf course. We heard the…

While waiting in line at a supermarket, I stole a peek inside a gossip magazine. A title, The Pressure of Being Perfect, and a picture of Princess Kate, all smiles, had caught my attention. I realize the world holds a materialistic concept of perfection, but here was an opportunity to see…

One early weekday morning six years ago, I was steering my enormous shopping cart in narrow Walmart aisles when I heard this announcement: “Welcome, lucky Walmart shoppers. We have an exciting giveaway this morning at the orange desk in the Housewares section. You must be there in the next two…

When the coronavirus pandemic subsides, and if we keep our wits about us, we’ll begin to reboot our economy. Even now, it’s high time to rethink our economy. I’d like to suggest two proposals for this project. One proposal is modest enough. The other, admittedly, is entirely and flagrantly immodest.…

The Roman Empire lasted a long time despite its many emperors who were egomaniacs or just plain crazy. Nero may be the foremost example. What caused Rome's decline and fall was not only incompetent emperors, barbarian border enemies, or mass dementia from lead water pipes. The underlying reasons were more…

The ancient use of herbs for medicinal purposes is well known. Coca leaves are still chewed by Peruvian natives in the High Andes to prevent altitude sickness. Poppy flowers yield opiates for pain relief. Curcumin research has shown it can shrink cancerous tumors even in the brain. Coca-cola capitalized on…

Chinese parents impose excessive scholastic demands on their children, who become obsessed to the point of suicide if they fail to pass a course of study. In China, suicide is the fifth leading cause of death and accounts for over 25% of all suicides worldwide. Christians are only 2% of…

They say Ken died of a heart attack working hard at what he loved, construction management. I had attended his Catholic marriage and recall the happy couple leaving the wedding reception, then standing together waiting in the hotel lobby to take the elevator to a honeymoon suite. But back then…

Though using a wide variety of clever devices daily, few of us know how they work. Our roles in society are so specialized, and our cars and computers so sophisticated that most of us do not understand how they operate and can not fix them. All that matters to us…

At 9:00 on Saturday morning, cars are not jammed in the parking lot and only a few customers cruise the aisles of employee-owned WinCo's supermarket. At that early hour, it takes me about 30 minutes to finish my usual shopping list, with an average bill of $50 a week for…

On an Amtrak train approaching Maryland, Friday, April 15, 2011 Craig invites Jason, a young genius in his late twenties, to join us. He is a non-degreed application technician devoted to robots as chief artist and scientist in the employ of Mechanimal in Pittsburgh, PA. He is traveling to D.C.…