nirtog In this post, I appeal primarily to Christians who underestimate the harm caused by the mistaken beliefs driving Intelligent Design. But this article may also be of interest to others, as it partially explains prevalent anti-science behaviors of today. What is Intelligent Design, and why does it matter? Wikipedia has several articles, but you could … Read more
Since I enjoy driving, I didn’t expect this long journey to cause any problems. It didn’t. The adventure was worth it. As usual with my travels, I knew that the trip would only whet my appetite to return for the many experiences we did not have time to investigate. We drove my 2019 Honda Accord, … Read more
I’m still working on the Alaska travelogue, coming soon! But here’s an update on Brighty. And I’m sorry to report that I wrongly assumed the worst in my previous post about Brighty, melted. This is an example of how incorrect info can be passed on these days. It turns out that the photo I showed … Read more
Having driven to Alaska and back, I’m working on a travelogue to be posted soon. However, this brief message will provide an update on the bronze statue of Brighty of the Grand Canyon, which I discussed a few posts back. On 12 July 2025, a wildfire on the North Rim destroyed the park lodge where … Read more
Anyone embarking on a spiritual sojourn might ask themselves what the most productive attitude might be, setting out, to get in a groove, set the mood, catch a wave, go with the flow, or align with the stars. We usually prepare in some way because we expect these types of journeys to bear fruit. Upon … Read more
Most people like rivers. Their continuous flow fascinates us. We watch their eddies, try to penetrate their depths, wonder about things floating in their currents. Rivers serve as many useful metaphors. For planet Earth, liquid water is its lifeblood and rivers its arteries. A few are in arid regions and run dry, but for most, … Read more
Another insight from Jules Henri Poincaré is worth considering, to finish this review of Sean Carroll’s The Big Picture. Recall that Poincaré was a first-rate mathematical physicist in the late 1800s who also contributed to the philosophy of science. He said the only objective reality humans can get any sense of is “the internal harmony … Read more
For the second installment of this review and in the spirit of “poetic naturalism,” I refer now to one of my favorite books of all time: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a 1974 novel (which covers neither of those subjects). Here is only one story detail: the narrator travels real roads in an … Read more
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, by Sean Carroll, hardcover, published 2016. This post is a beginning and will be followed by others which delve further into the book’s interesting material. photo credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O’Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and … Read more
Exercise is a good habit; my go-to aerobic choice is running five kilometers at a time. Establishing a habit can be a gradual process, with fits and starts or incremental adjustments, and I have enjoyed observing this process in myself. As a sixty-something, I’ve wanted to be physically fit, but have no interest in training … Read more
Born at the Portland Oregon Zoo on 1 February 2025, Tula-tu is a healthy baby girl Asian elephant. See the zoo website here and check out our pics and videos below. To nurse, Tula-tu must get her little trunk out of her way and almost go up on tippy-toes to reach Mama. As any baby … Read more
My surname is Moore, not uncommon in America. The first of my ancestors came to the colony of New Hampshire in 1738. Since that is eight generations before me, I have 256 grandparents from that time, only one of which was a Moore. However, many other ancestors related by marriage to those eight Moore generations … Read more
Jesus calls us to love God and also other people. How? It has nothing to do with infatuation and maybe little to do with emotion. Can this love be mostly an attitude? Can it be, to begin with, an acceptance of our common predicament as created earthly things? Other people, other animals, rocks, plants—we are … Read more
I know why the demons declined to join me on my Grand Canyon spiritual retreat. One of the things they most enjoy is watching me get annoyed with day-to-day living. They may not have a hand in creating annoyance, but they probably try to help me focus on being annoyed and feeling justified instead of … Read more
Like all great storytellers, Rudyard Kipling knew how to turn a phrase. He spun tales for children that would hold the attention of any adult. In How the Whale Got His Throat a small ‘Stute Fish advises an unsuspecting hungry cetacean where to find a solitary shipwrecked mariner adrift on a raft. The fish has … Read more
I have returned safely from a solo backpack trip into one of the most remote backcountry areas of Grand Canyon National Park. I mentioned in a previous blog post that this would be a spiritual retreat of five days and four nights. Here is a photo from the South Rim at Pima Point: Details will … Read more
This post is before my upcoming solo backpack trip to Boucher Creek in the Grand Canyon. I’ll provide a little background beforehand, then follow up with another post after the trip with photos and commentary. The plan calls for a spiritual retreat, similar to what some Christians do when they, for example, go to a … Read more
People today yearn for spiritual things but are less and less attracted to churches. Religion provides an organized way to delve into spiritual matters, but most people would rather wing it. Why call yourself Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or Jew when you can simply be a spiritual person? This attractive idea suggests that we should be … Read more
Of course, that title is a riff on the essay by Sigmund Freud about how societies need religion to function. He was not religious but saw the ideals of selfless love, generosity, and care for poor people as foundational for human communities. The title also riffs on a song that riffs on the Freud essay. … Read more
Many people sometimes feel a certain sense of place. This feeling can come from varied ideas and experiences and, therefore, be impossible to pin down. Whatever it is, many acknowledge it, and few are oblivious. While physical places take up space, like cities, houses, restaurants, mountains, and beaches, the sense of them is primarily mental. … Read more