If you were in King Lear’s family, the play is a tragedy. If you were the average Englishman, then the play is a miracle of divine goodness. Seeing this goes a long way to answering one worry some have about God, evil, and God’s goodness. Seeing God’s plan in action in a short period of time (a decade) is impossible. The world and His will are too complex. To cite just one problem: God wants maximum human freedom with maximum... Read more
Good luck if an organization is run by a man who wants the treats of power, but not the work. You will need it. Worse luck if you live or work in a culture of fear where the boss demands loyalty that he tests through tricks, arbitrary rules, and where hurt feelings can be fatal. King Lear decided his time as king was done, but instead of abdicating (as he should have), this foolish ruler divided his kingdom between his daughters.... Read more
Deliver us from evil the Lord’s prayer says, but often we rush to evil. Tragic to watch, worse to live through, many of us run to the sin that will destroy. This is bad enough, but the harm done to others is the greater evil. Pity Hamlet if you must, but Ophelia is the victim and deserves our sorrow. God save Hamlet, but God reward and redeem blessed Ophelia. Victim blaming kills. Justice demands deeds not words. Doubt it? Read Shakespeare.... Read more
Love does not exist where there is a lust for control. If the insights of Saint Paul on love do not convince a Christian, then he has a problem. The last thing a lover would ask the beloved is to be “in charge,” because love demands nothing. A lover might be in charge in the work world, somebody had to marry Queen Victoria and Albert got the job, but love has its own economy that has nothing to do with power politics.... Read more
Humans do terrible things and the desire for vengeance is powerful.* Christians are commanded to love their enemies and do good to those who do harm to us personally. Jesus said: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the... Read more
Disney created a clever world for the film Zootopia where non-human animals have learned to live in imperfect harmony. This has happened because the “predators” have ceased to kill and become like “the prey.” This is the first Disney film that is as funny, well animated, and voiced as the worst of the Pixar films . . . and that is high praise. Just don’t think too much about the movie. And there is the problem with the film. Don’t get me... Read more
Shakespeare was not infallible and The Taming of the Shrew is full of his limitations. Just as his biology was flawed, so his view of women was often wrong. He was not limited by his Christianity as much as by defects in a culture that was imperfectly Christian: a society based on muscle power will tend to give men too much credit and power. Shakespeare was too gentle with masculine arrogance. That needs to be said, but having said it, what... Read more
The wages of virtue is jollification. This isn’t obvious, because we sometimes confuse not sinning with virtue. No manikin has ever sinned outside The Twilight Zone, but no dummy has virtue either. Goodness is beautiful and beauty is fun. Obviously, a church whose symbol is a cross and who experiences martyrdom warns that things do not always turn out as they should before King Jesus comes. Still there is no piety in avoiding all levity. If Saint Paul never got tired... Read more
Athens had quite a few people who wanted Socrates dead. He went around asking tough questions about the democracy in Athens. His questions would have been acceptable, Athens was pretty tolerant of weird ideas, but they kept challenging the very basis of the city. Athens was built on an educational system that exploited students. It was worse than modern America where the worst thing that can happen to you is debt. Athenian teachers would charge you ruinous amounts of money,... Read more
He was blunt, “First ignore yourself …” This was hard advice from a master teacher, but not unexpected. We were mostly a Christian group and though humility is rare… we know we should seek it. No good class is the personal mission for fulfillment of a teacher trying to find himself. Plenty of bad classes are. We need educators not self-indulgent naval gazers. When a teacher is focused on self, the class can only learn the small world that exists... Read more
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