What do we say when we see someone suffering? What is there to say? Certainly not, "I know just how you feel," or, "don't worry, time will heal," or, "It was God's will." Often we say, "Our thoughts and prayers are with you." And what does that mean, and what good does it do? I've been thinking about prayer since I saw and wrote about Barbara Lubliner's beautiful prayer flags last week. I think a lot about prayer, especially at the times when I’m supposed to be praying and can’t figure out how to do it. I was talking with my brother, Alan, about a person we both knew. “He’s so pretentious,” I said, “He prays with his head thrown back and his arms up in the air, just like a televangelist.” “How did you know what he's doing if you're praying?” Alan asked me. Theologian Frederick Beuchner has said that if all we ever did was give thanks that would be enough for a lifetime of prayer. That may be true, and I've...
“One’s work is nothing but the long journey through life to recover, through the detours of art, the one or two great and simple images that first gained access to one’s heart.” Robert Beverly Hale quoting Albert Camus The first time I heard this quote, at an Art Student's League dinner, I thought, "Well, that doesn't apply to me." I was deep into my bird period; drawing their feather patterns was great practice for my pen technique but I wasn't a bird watcher or anything. Then I went home for a visit and my mother said, "Let's have a slideshow. She pulled out all the old family ...
Happy Birthday to George Washington. When that other George, King George III of England, was told that at the end of his term of office President Washington would relinquish power and retire to his farm in Virginia, he said, "Then he's the greatest man in the history of the world." Yes, the father of our country was a great man but not perfect, because, oh, yeah, slavery. It's hard to love Washington as whole-heartedly as we love Lincoln. "Merci, Monsieur le Marquis. De rien, Monsieur le Presidente." In this collage, General Washington expresses his thanks to the Marquis de Lafayette for his help in winning American independence. It's a statue that stands in Place des Etats Unis in Paris. A French coq and a Louisiana heron look on. The snow-covered trees are a reminder of the winter at Valley Forge. In a New York Times op-ed this week, Alexis Coe, author of You Never Forget Your First, A Biography of George Washington , says that ...
Comments
Post a Comment