Author Archives: Boz

To the Tops of Many Mountains: My 50th Class Reunion

Part 1: Making Ready for the Journey At some moments we experience complete unity within us and around us. This may happen when we stand on a mountaintop and are captivated by the view. It may happen when we witness … Continue reading

Posted in Arizona, church, education, faith, family, friendship, geography, Globe, healing, love, memories, metaphor, people | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Teach Me How to Live: Two Advent Lessons

Note: I began this meditation on November 28, the first Sunday of Advent. Some of the frenzy described herein actually prevented me from finishing it until a full week and another day of relative rest later. Given that context, it … Continue reading

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La Mulți Ani: A Tentative and Cautionary Birthday Wish for the USA

Yesterday, I read in a news article shared on Facebook that Disney has decided  to change the opening announcement at its Magic Kingdom fireworks show. The original greeting began, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dreamers of all … Continue reading

Posted in America, Bill of Rights, critical thinking, culture, current events, divisiveness, education, free speech, freedom, history, hope, language, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Even at the grave we make our song . . .

. . . but not during the Paschal celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ–at least in the Episcopal Church.

Posted in church, COVID-19, Easter, faith, music, politics, religion, totalitarianism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich

Every semester, staff and instructors at FTCC are allowed to take one class free of charge, and I almost always try to take advantage of that wonderful opportunity. This semester I am taking a class in critical thinking offered by … Continue reading

Posted in critical thinking, education, freedom, language, literature, politics, totalitarianism, word, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Wonder: My New Year’s Resolution

Among the saddest lines in literature are the ones with which Nick Carraway describes his last glance at the sprawling estate on Long Island from which Gatsby watched the green light on Daisy’s dock: As the moon rose higher the … Continue reading

Posted in Arizona, art, creativity, Globe, memories, metaphor, narrative, photography, poetry, wonder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What We Have Lost: Our Stories Make Us One

“Thanksgiving lessons jettison pilgrim hats, welcome truth” This headline from the Associated Press exploded inside my skull when I saw it three days ago, and in the dust that settled, I read an important lesson about what has been lost as … Continue reading

Posted in culture, current events, divisiveness, education, freedom, history, language, literature, narrative, politics, story | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Phone Fun

The day was Friday, November 13. The time was 1:15 p.m. The occasion was my online-scheduled, social-distanced, not-so-express pickupped iPhone 12 Pro Max. With the alternating frenzy and lethargy of the last two weeks, I was uncharacteristically and unapologetically eager … Continue reading

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Dostoevsky in Beulah Land

Despite the glorious, almost too-warm temperatures for a day six weeks into autumn, I took off for my late-morning walk with a heavy heart. I was depressed, outraged, and frightened over lost hopes for a return to American values, a … Continue reading

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COVID Masks and Comma Splices

For me, the cruelest part of the COVID-19 pandemic has been its stultifying and probably irremediable effects on education at all levels. Exactly at the middle of the spring 2020 semester, all our classes were switched to online-only instruction. I … Continue reading

Posted in COVID-19, current events, education, novel coronavirus | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments