Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity

I am reading a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel, "Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity".  The book is excellent, and the third of Rabbi Heschel's books that I have bought and read.

Heschel is an interesting character.  Perhaps "was" would be a better word, because he died in 1972, but reading his books makes me like "is" is better, as his writings are so full of life.

He was a Jewish theologian, and he had a special talent for appealing to Christians as much as to Jews, and had many Christian admirers, including Pope Paul VI, who told him that he hoped Catholics would read his books, as it would help them to be better Catholics.

Getting Older?

     I can remember my father telling me that there are certain times when you become more aware of the fact that you are getting older; times when something happens that surprise you with that fact.  That day he had just gotten home from work and he said,  “You can tell you’re getting older when pretty young women stand up and offer you a seat on the bus.”  I guess so.

Japanese and English personal communication

I would like to let everyone know that there is a new Yahoo club set up with the goal of providing a space for Japanese people who are interested in talking to foreigners, to meet English speakers who are interested in Japan and Japanese culture and people.  It is open to anyone, and the language is English.

You can access the club at this address:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/japengbridge/

There are postings and a chatroom available.  We need some folks to join the club to help get it started and rolling, so if you are interested, why not sign up?

See you there!

A prayer for Japan

The nuclear emergency in Japan is dying out of the news, but it is actually still quite serious.  Japan has been suffering from the world wide economic crisis, and also from a very strong Yen.  That is not good news for an exporting country like Japan,

The Story of Mr. Lee

I’d like to tell you the story of Mr. Lee, of Taiwan.  I met Mr. Lee in a hospital in Kaohsiung, in the south of Taiwan.  I was doing volunteer work there, bringing books around to the patients in the various wards, hoping to brighten their day up with a smile, a kind word, and an offer of a magazine or book to read.

A funeral

Last week I attended a funeral.  The 30 year old son of a dear friend was hit by a car while riding his bicycle, and died after 10 days in a coma.  I haven't been to a lot of funerals, but at my age, I suppose that will be gradually changing in future years.

A Doubly Sad Story

     For several days I have been seeing mentions in the news of a recently released video from the US military in Iraq.  The video is taken from a US helicopter, and shows the crew shooting civilians, including a Reuters cameraman and two children.  When I read various mentions of the video, it sounded like the soldiers were deliberately shooting civilians for amusement.  However today I took a few minutes to search out the video and watch it; it was certainly an education for me.