Cautiously emerging from Covid protocol practices, I was recently blessed to reconnect with a former teacher/colleague Gordon Anderson aka, Mr. A.—Gordy—Sir Gordo, who belongs to a pantheon of gifted math teachers. He fully understands that math can be a daunting discipline, especially for right-brain dominant students. He has an uncanny ability to help students make … [Read more…]
Before a very bright student planted the seed that grew into the Biodesign experience, I was unaware of the Jungian phenomenon known as “synchronicity.” These are events (scientific or other) that converge simultaneously with no known cause. When I decided to break with tradition and initiate a high school advanced biology program, that did not … [Read more…]
There are religious scholars who believe that John Muir was sent as God’s messenger to interpret and describe the wonders and miracles of the wilderness. Conversely, there are secular scientists who assert that his life is a testament of the unlimited creativity of random genetic combinations without involvement with a Supreme Being. However, what they … [Read more…]
In addition to the typical turkey dinner, with all of the fixin’s, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to pause, reflect and give thanks for the unspeakably perfect gift of life. Without this, nothing else makes any biological sense. Thomas Edison regarded himself as an agnostic, however he did concede that the universe was too amazingly … [Read more…]
An old English proverb suggests: “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good” The recent fires throughout Napa and Sonoma Counties qualify as Ill Winds. It is common practice for California Dept. of Forestry officials to name fires by their place of origin. Ergo, the fire that destroyed over 3,500 Santa Rosa homes and businesses … [Read more…]
Sometimes it is aggravating when IT “reads” my posts and sends me links and ads that “they” think I will like (or buy). However, this was not the case when, after I posted the blog involving Darwin, Mozart and Sunny Choi. Quite mysteriously, a YouTube video of Yeol Eum Son’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto … [Read more…]
It is a rare human being (especially male) who is not vexed by being shown that his logic is faulty. Charles Darwin did not belong to that group and reportedly became furious when Alfred Wallace pointed out that his Theory of Evolution did not explain the origin of exceptional human talents involving music, mathematics and … [Read more…]
Although, as a little boy, I attended Sunday school at the little white church in Oakville, Ca., my spiritual search was low-key at best until I was 31 and Lettie asked her fateful question: “Is memorizing all the parts of a fetal pig really important?” (Biodesign Out For A Walk, chap. 1. “Genesis: Lettie’s Question.”) … [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…]
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Many of the older Scots claim that they can communicate spiritually with deceased family members and friends by a process they call “kything.” If this is so, I am guessing that John Muir … [Read more…]