Well, that does appear to be the case. The singer and songwriter Roberta Joan “Joni” Mitchell was born on this day in 1943. As Wikipedia tells us she “helped define an era and a generation,” and definitely was a significant part of the background of my formation. And even as those years have moved on I’ve remained fond of her wide ranging talent. So, happy birthday, Joni! And fond hopes for many more to come… Read more
Yunmen’s Dried Shit Stick James Ishmael Ford A student of the way asked Yunmen, “What is Buddha?” Yunmen replied, “Dried shitstick.” Case 21, Gateless Gate Yunmen is one of the great teachers of the Zen way. He lived between the middle of the ninth century and died late in the middle of the tenth century. The story of his awakening is one of the classics. After traveling from teacher to teacher, following hints and suggestions he came to master Bokushu’s... Read more
It was on this day in 1872 that Susan B Anthony cast a ballot, for which she was arrested, and later fined a hundred dollars, no insignificant amount in those days. Worth thinking about as we run up to this election, the first with a woman on a major party’s ticket, and one of two people who will be elected president of the United States. Read more
Today the Anglican communion honors Richard Hooker, priest and theologian in its calendar of feasts. He was a central figure in the establishment of Anglicanism as a via media, a middle way between Catholicism and Protestantism. Hooker was also a beautiful writer. He articulated a “threefold cord not quickly broken” of Bible, church, and reason. It would evolve with Anglicanism into the three-legged stool of scripture, tradition, and reason. (The historical nitpickers among us, okay, me as well, point out... Read more
On this day in 1611 Shakespeare’s the Tempest played for the first time at the Whitehall Palace in London. Some say his masterwork. Certainly my favorite of his plays. As Caliban sings to us Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again;... Read more
Jan and I went to see Inferno yesterday. We picked it partially because I’m having back problems and it was playing at one of those new theaters with reclining cushy chairs. We really like Tom Hanks, and, actually enjoy Ron Howard. And, okay, we weren’t expecting much more than an entertainment. In fact a mindless cartoon like adventure was just what we wanted. We were not disappointed. Still, now having seen it, it’s hard to see how this movie wasn’t... Read more
The 31st of October is quite the day. It was on this day in 683, during the Second Islamic Civil War the Kaaba was burned and the black stone shattered. Then on this day in 1517 the Augustinian friar Martin Luther (may or may not have) nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church, shattering the unified Western Church. On this day in 1922 Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy, casting a shadow that would eventually... Read more
What a piece of worke is a man! how Noble in Reason? how infinite in faculty? in forme and mouing how expresse and admirable? in Action, how like an Angel? in apprehension, how like a God? It was today, or rather this evening in 1938 that Orson Welles’ infamous radio play the War of the Worlds caused panic in the streets. Well, some streets. It was not quite as national a crisis as some stories would have it. Still, for... Read more
According to the good folk at Wikipedia, it was on this day five hundred, and thirty-nine years before our common era that Cyrus the Great and his army entered Babylon. He was a pivotal figure in the development of many things, not the least of which was Judaism as the religion we know. With his Edict(s) of Restoration, he both allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and assisted in the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Hence the... Read more
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