When hanging out with friends, I’ve started to wonder (surreptitiously) if they’d be good part-time surrogate parents. You start thinking these things as you project into the future, imagining your child as a future teenager who may not want to confide in you. You hope that, at that time, you’ll be able to encourage her […]
It’s Really All About God
“I signed up for a movement that was standing still, with explorers who had already arrived, and for a revolution that had given up.” So says Samir Selmanovic in his book It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian. The worst part: he’s talking about Christianity. Here’s a book after my […]
Does God Need Us?
From Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being: “‘For the Jew the world is not complete; people must complete it.’ So said a nineteenth-century Frenchman, Edmund Fleg. Recently Lawrence Kushner stated the same idea powerfully and bluntly: ‘God does not have hands, we do. Our hands are God’s. It is up to us, what God will […]
Painted Lady Butterflies
You’re familiar with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, right? The caterpillar emerges from an egg, then proceeds to eat his way through various, delicious foods (including a hot dog and piece of cake!). He makes a “cocoon” (really, a chrysalis…you wonder how the editor missed that one!), then emerges days later a fabulous […]
Modern Art for Kids
There’s something about design and art and creativity and beauty that makes my heart and mind race a tad faster. I’m happiest when I’m surrounded by new ideas. [That’s been my experience with children, too.] So, when I find hip, funky projects that are feasible to do with little ones (or with anyone), I corral […]