totality times toys
To start this short post, two moments from last week’s totality, separated by three minutes: And how does one prepare in the weeks before a total eclipse of the sun? So glad you asked. With a tennis ball, and any other spheres lying around the house. I now wonder, orbits and dance, what’s the difference?…
Reflecting on the total solar eclipse of April 8
I invited my family to see the April 8 eclipse, and we found a place on a bay in the St. Lawrence River. We had ourselves a grand little reunion up there on the Canadian border, and a great couple of days together. And we got to see a total eclipse, a first for each…
Favorite reads of 2023
Below are my ten most memorable reads of 2023, fiction and nonfiction, out of my 33 first-time reads. Actually I’ve thrown 11 chariots into the race, and an honorable runner-up. For each book, I’ve listed some excerpts, not necessarily the “best” — there are countless great quotes in all of these — but just a…
Fear and courage in Mark’s Gospel
I recently reread the Gospel of Mark and noticed, with appreciation, how many of the people in this Gospel, including Jesus’ closest disciples, are shown as confused, uncomprehending, and fearful. Fear, then, became a theme for me in this rereading, partly prompted by Rowan Williams’ book, “Meeting God in Mark”. I made the lists below,…
Adam and Eve’s undiscovered country
For all that has been said about Milton creating a relatively sympathetic Satan in “Paradise Lost,” there is no question that Satan becomes less sympathetic as the poem progresses. In short, we have less sympathy for him as we get to know him. His lies become more transparent, for one thing. And he does his…
Paradise Regained
If I knew little about “Paradise Lost” before reading it this past summer, I knew nothing about “Paradise Regained”. I guessed that it would deal with the Second Coming, but I was off by at least two thousand years. “Paradise Regained” is a short retelling of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. That’s an episode from…
Jesus in Paradise Lost
Like countless readers, I took no great liking to Milton’s depiction of God the Father in “Paradise Lost.” On that subject I have nothing to add, and I want instead to talk about Milton’s vision of God’s Son. This won’t be a lengthy analysis, just a short list of the passages that are most memorable…
Satan’s Pale Blue Dot
Some thirty-three years ago, the Voyager 1 spacecraft attempted to photograph all of the known planets in our solar system in a single “family portrait.” But it couldn’t see all of them. Some planets were too small, or too close to the Sun. The Earth, as is now well-known, turned up as a mere smudge…
Satan in Milton’s telescope
As an amateur astronomer, I took special pleasure in all the astronomical imagery in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. Milton depicts Satan exploring the vastness and boundaries of three immense worlds: Hell, Chaos, and the created universe that contains our Earth. At one point he has Satan landing on the surface on the Sun, which is such…
LOTR and Paradise Lost
I’ve finished “Paradise Lost,” and I thought it would be fun to list all the passages that made me think of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” Many things in “Paradise Lost” made me think of Middle-Earth, some because of their resemblance to Tolkien’s creations, others because there was only a superficial similarity and strong differences.…
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