“Paul wasn’t a convert,” the Smithsonian lecturer said, going on to explain how Paul wouldn’t have called himself a Christian and how his aim was to bring Gentiles into the fold, not to be among the organizers of a new faith. I got his point. There’s no evidence Paul ever renounced Judaism, anymore than Jesus… Continue reading Of Conversion
Category: Life in the 50s
Of Weakness and Light
Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there. “Unzip your soul and expose your foibles.” It’s the mantra of my friend Patricia Lorenz, whom you may know from her years of
Living Up–or Down–to Expectations
It was the closest I’d come to beating Dad at chess in the six or so months after he’d taught the game to me (and to himself). “You’re getting better,” he said with a chortle as we put the pieces away. “But so am I. You’ll never beat me.” I was sixteen. It was the last… Continue reading Living Up–or Down–to Expectations
A Bridge to “Now”
For some people, it’s planes. For others, it’s heights or crowds. For me, it’s bridges (gephyrophobia, if you want to sound learned). The fear started to take hold in a serious way in the late 1990s when I moved to Cincinnati, home to the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, the longest of its kind in… Continue reading A Bridge to “Now”