I received this email yesterday from my web host and thought I’d pass it on in lieu of the next installment of analysis on the Lilla essay. Metaphors For Life is a proud Draknet affiliate and this announcement gives us yet another reason to feel really good about where our site is hosted.
We wanted to […]

I finished Neil Gaiman’s American Gods at about 1:30 this morning. I adore “page turners” like this, though I have to say this is the most singular “page turner” I’ve ever encountered.
As readers of this blog will probably know, all meaning is context bound, and contexts are endless. Here’s mine:
When this book was originally released […]

In this next section on the essay adapted from “The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West,” by Professor Mark Lilla of Columbia University, we examine the impulses that separated man from God, and secular politics from religion.
Section II: The Great Separation.
For those who study the evolution of human consciousness, this could as […]

“The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West,” by Professor Mark Lilla of Coilumbia University is to be published next month but the points he raises therein should have been in mainstream consciousness years ago.
The essay from yesterday’s New York Times begins with “The twilight of the idols has been postponed.” That in itself […]

According to this report from Reuters today, “Health insurance premiums will cost families and employers an extra $922 on average this year to cover the costs of caring for the uninsured.”
How does this happen, you may be asking? Well, it’s what is otherwise known as a “vicious circle”: The costs of traditional medical care […]

“God in his infinite freedom continuously creates a world that reflects that freedom at all levels of the evolutionary process to greater and greater complexity,” he wrote. “He is not continually intervening, but rather allows, participates, loves.”
This is one of the very best summations of my thoughts and intuitions on the subject. The universe simultaneously […]

Taken from a forum post and republished here:
So, I’ve been mulling this thing for over a week now, wondering how to go about expressing my gratitude to the man I married almost 13 years ago. I decided to do it here because: A) It’s my forum and I can and B) Most of the people […]

Haven’t had a lot of time for this blog of late, but I did spy something today that I wanted to relay to anyone reading along.
Hat tip to The LA Times’ Religion section.
A lively debate over the Dead Sea Scrolls
As the ancient documents are readied for a San Diego exhibition, scholars clash over just who […]

A review of Shahram Shiva’s Lovedrunk. In a phrase: Rumi served light and sensous over well-crafted Middle-Eastern grooves. Well worth adding to the soundtrack of your life.
Disclaimer: I’m not a professional reviewer. No one pays me to write this stuff. Metaphors For Life is an affiliate of CDBaby.com but not of the artist or label […]

Spreading some good news about good music and good service from CDBaby.com.
It was a custom shopkeepers used to follow religiously when weighing or measuring quantities for their customers — they meted out the requested amount, then included a bit extra “for good measure.” It was considered “good business” because you just never knew, really, if […]