aging – Letters to Rachel

孝道的限度 (The Limits of Xiào)

Dearest Rachel – I don’t claim to be a student of Confucianism by any stretch of the imagination, but I am passingly familiar with at least one tenet of the philosophy? …religion? I’m not even entirely sure as to which it really is. Both are a means to guide behavior in the present world; whileContinue reading “孝道的限度 (The Limits of Xiào)”

Nearly Bird

Dearest Rachel – This is hardly groundbreaking news – especially to you, of all people – but very few of us, once we reach a certain point in our adult life, care to admit to our advancing age, even to ourselves. We would prefer to be, and act, like someone considerably younger than ourselves; asContinue reading “Nearly Bird”

I Can Feel It In My Bones

Dearest Rachel – I think there are certain things about life that you don’t – can’t, even – figure out until you reach a certain age. When I was a kid, for instance, it absolutely puzzled me that my grandfather (and later, my father) could fall asleep in his rocker-recliner, despite it being in theContinue reading “I Can Feel It In My Bones”

Before Our Time

Dearest Rachel – Unlike you – who appreciated my description of you as five years old with forty years’ experience – I never felt all that comfortable as a kid, and made an effort to grow up as quickly as possible. I related better to my elders than I did to my peers (although, comeContinue reading “Before Our Time”

from Rachel: Like a Weaned Child

What do you think Peterson meant by ‘neurotic dependency’? “Maybe whiny insecurity, coming to God as our therapist (??)” Offer a scenario depicting a way this could happen: “An idea, plan, event, etc. that really feels like God’s will fizzles, gets canceled, causes controversy, etc.” God‘s goal is not children scared into silence, but thoseContinue reading “from Rachel: Like a Weaned Child”

The Call in the Middle of the Night

Dearest Rachel – It seems silly to marvel at the accuracy of scripture sometimes. I find myself reminded of some after-dinner speaker who is said to have begun a speech by pompously intoning, “As God said, and I think rightly…” One can only hope he was joking with such a line, but it’s just plausible that itContinue reading “The Call in the Middle of the Night”

Tears in the Fabric

Dearest Rachel – The amusing thing about a title like today’s is that we both know that if I trailed off, you would expect that the next phrase would be something like “of spacetime” or “of the universe,” or some other such science-fiction-y turn of phrase. It’s the sort of realization that makes me wonderContinue reading “Tears in the Fabric”

A Tourist in Toyland

Dearest Rachel – Since I’ve either a.) been out of the country, or b.) shopping from home (or c.) both a. and b., thanks to the fact that I can shop online from anywhere, including a hotel in Switzerland), I haven’t been hearing a lot of Christmas music this year. It’s a bit of aContinue reading “A Tourist in Toyland”