“…Seeks to Understand Other Men and Women…”

The spirit of liberty is the spirit that is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit that weighs their interests alongside its own without bias.

Judge Learned Hand, 1944

…and alas a spirit that is noticeably absent from the current
political and cultural landscape of the United States.

July 4th: “That Which Makes Life Worthwhile”

Au Sable River, Michigan

On this 4th of July, a few words on America’s real wealth, from Robert Kennedy in his 1968 presidential campaign:

Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.

The GNP measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

Dream Things that Never Were

There are those who see things as they are and ask, why;  I dream things that never were and say, Why not?

–Robert Kennedy

Robert Kennedy died 49 years ago today by an assassin’s bullet.  “All the things he might have done and all he could have been…”

 

Kensington Park, Michigan

Whisper of Faith

The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist;

but at the bottom of the glass, God is waiting for you.

–Werner Heisenberg (“creator of quantum mechanics”)

Kensington Park, Michigan

Music in the Shadows

The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.
–Wolfgang Mozart

WPC: Who Is the Real Magician?

“I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches
and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize
that the real magician was light itself“.
…Edward Steichen…

In Michigan, we are welcoming the return of Spring and its special magic, dropping from Heaven, filtering through the treetops, and leaving gossamer strands of light below.

Photo Challenge:  Atop 

 

Kensington Park, Michigan

Sunday Camus: Real Generosity to the Future

Real generosity to the future lies in giving all to the present.

—Albert Camus

Kensington Park, Michigan