Our American and Canadian celebration of Labor and the contributions of the labor union movement was set for the first Monday in September to consciously separate it from the international workers day observed throughout much of the world on the 1st of May. Me, I’ve always felt conflicted about this. On the one hand our American left has had little stomach for command economy systems that mark much of the world socialist movement, particularly communism and instead has persistently advocated... Read more

I find it hard not to think of the lines of that poem. Of huddled masses. Of the wretched. Of the tempest-tossed. It is pushing five years since Syria fell apart. Back in May fourteen American senators sent a letter to the president calling on him to lead a significant resettlement of Syrian refugees to our shores. At this point the government has said we’re likely to admit up to eight thousand, although to date we have admitted no more... Read more

“A century and a half after its publication, Walden has become such a totem of the back-to-nature, preservationist, anti-business, civil-disobedience mindset, and Thoreau so vivid a protester, so perfect a crank and hermit saint, that the book risks being as revered and unread as the Bible.” John Updike in “A Sage for All Seasons” It was on this day in 1847 that Henry David Thoreau ended his two year, two month, & two day sojourn living in a hut on... Read more

It was on this day in 1957 that Jack Kerouac’s second novel, and his masterpiece On the Road was published. Like much of his writing On the Road is a roman a clef, featuring many of his friends including Alan Ginsberg as Carlo Marx, William Burroughs as Old Bull Lee, Neal Cassady as Dean Moriarty, and himself as Sal Paradise. While it had its critics, Truman Capote famously said Kerouac didn’t “write, he types,” for the most part the book... Read more

Last year I noticed the Episcopal Church has a feast day for Gregorio Aglipay, and commented on it. I think it is worth revisiting this year, as well. Aglipay was born in 1860. He was a priest and fervent Filipino patriot, one of the leaders of the revolution, who at the same tim led a schism from the Roman Catholic Church, founding the Philippine Independent Church. All the original clergy of the new church had been Roman Catholic priests. Following... Read more

I adore my morning cup (sometimes two) of coffee. I love my morning cup (sometimes two) of coffee. And so I’m pleased as punch it appears the earliest attested use of coffee was at the Sufi communities in and around Mocha, in what today is called Yemen. Mild stimulants (okay and sometimes not so mild) have a long association with religion. In China, for instance, the legendary origins of tea are tied into one of the many stories of Bodhidharma... Read more

It was on this day in 1838, after two unsuccessful attempts, twenty year old Frederick Douglas escaped slavery. Read more

The Summer Day Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down- who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps... Read more

It was on this day in 1902 that Le Voyage dans la Luna was first screened. It is generally considered the first science fiction movie. Read more

Way back when he reviewed the Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor’s lovely book “Alone With Others,” The Western Buddhist John Blofeld wrote an introduction praising the young monk scholar and his writing. Blofeld went on to say it was unfortunate that Batchelor did not touch upon the critical doctrines of karma and rebirth, but understood there is only so much one can do in one book. He added how he hoped Batchelor would turn to the subject some day. Some years... Read more