https://youtu.be/UetJAFogqE4?t=55 In the beautiful 1965 movie The Sound of Music, Maria (Julie Andrews) and Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) sing "Something Good," in which they say they must have done something good sometime during their childhood or youth, because they have found each other. What interests me in this song, however, is not their love … Continue reading Nothing Comes from Nothing
Shinzo Abe’s Death
Yesterday was a sad day. The sixty-seven-year-old former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faced a cruelly sudden death at the prime of his life; he was assassinated during his campaign speech yesterday (July 8, 2022). No one in the world but the forty-one-year-old assassin knew that such a violent death would soon consume one of … Continue reading Shinzo Abe’s Death
Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie (1997)
In this bestselling 1997 memoir, the author Mitch Albom records his fourteen consecutive visits made to his former Brandeis professor Morris “Morrie” S. Schwartz (1916-95) who was dying of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, アミトロ). The fourteen topics include the world, feeling sorry for yourself, regrets, death, family, emotions, the fear of aging, money, how love … Continue reading Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie (1997)
Reflecting on Death
Our neighbor has a dog. Her name is N—I will only use the initial for privacy—and she is a beautiful golden retriever. Yet she’s so old that her death is imminent. As her time rapidly draws near, I see our neighbor’s hearts sink. They are doing everything that they can do to extend N’s stay … Continue reading Reflecting on Death
We Fly Away (Psalm 90:10)
Two observations surprise me: that it has already been more than two years since COVID-19 began to devour the world (December 2019) and that almost half of 2022 is already gone. These, however, shouldn’t bowl me over because I know the Psalmist’s trenchant statement of the shortness of our lives, “for they [our days] quickly … Continue reading We Fly Away (Psalm 90:10)