Writing is Remembering
Susanna and the Elders, Peter Paul Rubens, Date: 1609 - 1610. Are some subjects off-limits in the arts? That is, are some objects suitable for painting, for example, and others not? What about literature? Is Oscar Wilde right when he says in the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray: "There is no such thing as … Continue reading Love Compresses the Flesh
Walkeshwar Temple, Malabar Hill, Mumbai, 1860. Photographer unknown. Public domain. A few days ago, I was putting away my second set of tefillin, when I dropped the one worn on my arm. It was in its protective case and landed upright undamaged on the floor. A friend picked it up and handed it to me. … Continue reading The Element of the Sacred
Blind child making the acquaintance of a bit of statuary at Oklahoma School for the Blind. March 1917. By Lewis Hine, 1874-1940, photographer. Walking home after Morning Prayers, I pass a spot where a kind-hearted woman feeds homeless cats. The woman knows her customers well. She puts several servings of food down. She sets them … Continue reading With Eyes That Could Not See
Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, Canada. Photo by the author, 2019. For more than thirty years, I spent at least part of almost every summer in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. I would stay at a log cabin overlooking Passamaquoddy Bay, about ten miles from the town of St. Andrews. When I was still at … Continue reading Three Things There Are
Shadows. Moonlit Night. Isaac Levitan. Original Title: Тени. Лунная ночь. Date: c.1885 In The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin writes about a “Sacred Tree.” He came upon it while traveling in the valley of the Rio Negro on his way to Bahía Blanca in Argentina in the company of an Englishman, a guide, and … Continue reading Between Hope and Fear
