“As a modern man, I have sat in concert halls and watched huge audiences floating dazed on the voice of a great singer. Alone in a dark box I have heard far off as if ascending out of some dark stairwell the guttural whisperings and bestial coughings out of which that voice arose. Again, I … [Read more…]
“This follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this wonderful universe, including man with his capacity of looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the result of blind chance or necessity. When thus reflecting I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous … [Read more…]
Although I have never met Dr. Michael Adams, son of Ansel Adams, our spirits were recently engaged in a splendid synchronicity that began nearly 40 years ago. It involves a revolutionary advanced biology class that I was privileged to participate in at St. Helena High School in the Napa Valley. It was revolutionary because the … [Read more…]
“So you went to the Louvre: What did you see? After the first Artist Only the copyist.” – Renny Russel: “On The Loose.†It is intriguing to wonder what the Ahwahnechee Indians must have thought when they observed Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall. It is quite likely that, because of when, where and how they lived, … [Read more…]
“What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above.” – Renee Daumal EVERY HUMAN BEING should be fortunate enough to sleep at least one night on top of a mountain, under a starry blanket. John Muir exhorted his followers, “go to the mountains and get their good … [Read more…]
Lori Evans Pugh (Biodesign ’79) shared this rare video of a John Denver song that I had never seen before. Not surprisingly, it conjured up a cornucopia of latent images and memories. The Gift You Are – John Denver 1991 It is not an over-reach to describe Denver as a modern-day, wandering minstrel who was … [Read more…]
Even though I am not a Biblical scholar, I don’t think it is possible to find single Old Testament reference to God as having a sense of humor. Michelangelo’s dour image of God, painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, reflects the pre-renaissance pessimism common at that time, however, I fear that countless millions … [Read more…]
Michelangelo is widely regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance. If his goals in life had been lower, the world would never have known his “David” and “Pieta” statues and the Sistine Chapel frescoes. He was a painter, architect and sculptor and dedicated his life to getting as close to the creative power … [Read more…]
Watching the increasingly commercial emphasis during the Christmas Season, it is little wonder Albert Schweitzer described a kind of naïveté where people are unaware of the silent, spiritual battles within.  Although blatant commercialism was far less intense during the time Henry Thoreau wrote “Walden,†(1850) it probably contributed to his efforts to strive to avoid … [Read more…]
“I used to envy the father of our race, dwelling as he did in contact with the new-made fields and plants of Eden; but I so no more, because I have discovered that I also live in ‘creation’s dawn.’ The morning stars still sing together, and the world, not yet half made, becomes more beautiful … [Read more…]