Comic Encounters with the Physical World II

Standing in front of my bathroom medicine cabinet, I heard the faint tinkling sound of a small object bouncing inside it. I opened the cabinet to explore, and all of my shaving equipment fell out into the sink. The sound I’d heard was one of the tiny plastic supports that holds up the particleboard shelves spontaneously popping out and falling to the shelf below.

A Professor Addresses His Class at the End of the Semester

There are churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship where people come together to do things that give great meaning to their lives. In Alcoholics Anonymous there is a phrase “we come into these rooms.” And in church basements and halls all over the world people gather to engage in activities that have become an essential part of who they are.

I believe that the classroom is also a sacred space. What we do here—if we do it well—has the power to enrich us in profound and lasting ways.

So thank you for coming here and spending this time with me. It has been a very important time for me, and I hope it has been valuable for you, too.

Words Spoken to a Man in Grief

Receive what cheer you may:
The night is long that never finds the day.

         Malcolm to MacDuff,
         Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3