“Yes we have a soul but it’s made of lots of tiny robots.” I’ve been reading a lot of the provocative and illuminating work of Dan Dennett lately, and in continuing the comment above, he expanded – …I thought that’s exactly right. Yes we have a soul, but it’s mechanical. But it’s still […]
YOU ARE THE PLACE WHERE I STAND ON THE DAY WHEN MY FEET ARE SORE. This is the literal translation of “mo sheasamh ort lá no choise tinne,” the Irish phrase for trust, as noted by Pádraig Ó Tuama. As the summer has advanced, I’ve started to see my situation as a kind of […]
Like many, I have picked up a new hobby lately, amateur virology. I’ve plotted exponential curves of terrible statistics, pored over journal articles, re-learned basic biological lessons, and been part of call after call with scientific experts. Science is a comfort and a joy. It gives a structure for learning, helps us to quickly adapt […]
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they shall fail; where there be tongues, they shall cease; where there is knowledge, it shall fall away…. And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13 I recently experienced the […]
What is your superpower? One of my favorite little books is All My Friends are Superheroes, a quirky story where, indeed, everyone has a curious ability. Invisibility, hypnotism, bat-like hearing… all are not only possible, but present. There’s so much to be done in our world, from folding laundry to analyzing data to fighting for […]
“You do what you have to do to be faithful.” Earlier this week I had the joy of hearing Sister Pat Daly speak to a gathering of investors. In describing the motivation behind her decades of work as an engaged investor, she simply said, “you do what you have to do to be […]
There are three signs of a hypocrite: when he speaks he speaks lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he is treacherous. – Prophet Muhammad This week the terrible, horrible details of the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation of Catholic priests were released, and they were […]
Unintentionally, our last two posts were “faith” and “hope”. This seems to leave no choice but for today to be “love”. Yes, I have rolled my eyes at cheesy valentines, cringed at the still-standard question, “and what does your husband do?”, and too often confused warm-heartedness with soft-headedness. But as the world has gotten louder, and […]
Belief is irresistible. – Phil Knight For some, I realize, business is the all-out pursuits of profits, period, full stop, but for us business was no more about making money than being human is about making blood. Yes, the human body needs to make blood…But that day-to-day business of the human body isn’t our […]
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. – R.W. Emerson The quote above from Emerson’s essay History is a favorite – it alludes to the links between the vastness of history and each of our lives, as well as to endless potential for further creation. Perhaps even more direct a message – for us […]