Hard times — \u00a0a Congress locked in venom and contempt for those with whom one must negotiate, \u00a0“partisan” is a common adjective for elected officials at the national level; \u00a0 Detroit city caught in uncertainties about bankruptcy that stir mistrust and fear for the future; \u00a0 UDM negotiating a McNichols faculty contract turned acrimonious and hurtful.<\/p>\n
This morning reminded me that I like getting up while it is dark outside. \u00a0It helps me recognize a balance of light and dark. \u00a0The descent of the sun toward December solstice doesn’t just cheer me up because autumn colors start to replace the dreadful pollens of ragweed season (asthma). \u00a0Early dark opens awarenesses that hustling along in the light I sometimes miss. \u00a0 I once got in a fight at MIT when I gave a talk about the West’s coupling the emergence of Western scientific methods with a devaluing of Europe’s mystical disciplines. \u00a0A friend, Leo Marx got upset with that talk and some other MIT-Harvard types got angry and insulting that I would \u00a0call the dark “holy” and celebrate mystery and mysticism at MIT. \u00a0 But it was Leo who introduced me to this piece with which the published paper now ends.<\/p>\n
Have a good day.<\/p>\n
john st sj<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A poem for days of diminishing light<\/p>\n
Here come the stars to character the skies,
\nAnd they in the estimation of the wise
\nAre more divine than any bulb or arc,
\nBecause their purpose is to flash and spark,
\nBut not to take away the precious dark.
\nWe need the interruption of the night
\nTo ease attention off when overtight,
\nTo break our logic in too long a flight,
\nAnd ask us if our premises are right.<\/p>\n
Robert Frost “The Literate Farmers and the Planet Venus”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hard times — \u00a0a Congress locked in venom and contempt for those with whom one must negotiate, \u00a0“partisan” is a common adjective for elected officials at the national level; \u00a0 Detroit city caught in uncertainties about bankruptcy that stir mistrust … Continue reading