Tag Archives: bereavement

Homesickness

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Abigail

Homesickness When I was twelve or thirteen, I had two favorite books: Homer’s Odyssey and Thomas Mann’s four–volume novel based on Genesis 37:1 – 50:25, Joseph and His Brothers. The epic recounts how Odysseus — the wily hero whose Trojan … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, books, Childhood, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Immorality, Immortality, Jews, Judaism, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Masculinity, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, slave, social climbing, social construction, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Athena, Athens v Jerusalem, beloved son, bereavement, book of Genesis, charisma, coat of many colors, crime and atonement, cyclops, divine coincidences, emptying an apartment, evaluating remorse, going home, Greek Gods, Greek mythology, happy endings, Homer’s Odyssey, homesickness, human complexity, Jacob and Rachel, Joseph and Pharaoh, Joseph in Egypt, life lessons, life maturity, loss of parents, moral reversals, nostalgia, Odysseus and Penelope, orphaned, paternal favoritism, Penelope in The Odyssey, personal growth, precognitive dreams, recognition scene, recognitions and reunions, restoring what was lost, ripening situation, royal dreams, rules for life, self-infatuation, selling into Egypt, selling one’s brother, sibling rivalry, sirens, slavery in Egypt, spiritual growth, supernatural obstacles, Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers, transformative story, Trojan War, yearning for home, years of famine, years of plenty, you can’t go home again | 1 Comment

Death, Dying, and Heroes

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Abigail

Death, Dying, and Heroes Nowadays it’s not uncommon to hear people say that they’re not afraid of death, just of dying. I think this is heard more frequently than it used to be. The news that consciousness does survive the … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Afterlife, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Class, Contemplation, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, Health, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Immortality, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Love, Masculinity, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, self-deception, social climbing, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Zeitgeist | Tagged a son's recollections, a time to die, academics, afterlife, art of dying, Art of Living, becoming who one is, bereavement, bodily ills, brain death, cancer, courage, death, dying, ebbing natural force, extraordinary people, father and son, father-in-law, father-son relations, fear of death, fear of doctors, going to the light, good storyteller, grace, gratitude to caregivers, heaven and hell, heroes, hospice care, lasting love, Leo Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilyich, letting go, letting nature take its course, losing power, marital love, natural force, navigating old age, not being fooled, opinion shapers, ordinary people, patience in dying, philosophers, plain speech, retirement facility, reviewers, secular humanists, self-containment, self-renewal, self-restraint, social scientists, storytelling, straight talk, subtle realism, surrender in dying, surviving death, tai chi class, Texas in the 1920s, Texas speech, the humanities, theologians, unembellished speech, walkers, worldly cares | 11 Comments

Obsequies for Dennis Delcau

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Abigail

Obsequies for Dennis Delcau Rabbi Mitchell Delcau’s father died. I went to the funeral this morning. Mitchell Delcau is our temple’s former rabbi, now based in Seattle. He was someone I had once worked hard to find, serving on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Eternity, Ethics, Existentialism, Faith, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, Love, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged ambivalence, anti-semitism, bad companions, bereavement, cemetery vandalism, congregants, Dennis Delcau, diaspora, draft deferment, excuses, filial piety, flag-draped coffin, funeral home, funerals, grief, Holocaust survivor, homage to one's country, honesty, honor, humiliation, importance of Israel, Jewish army, Jewish observance, job loss, Judaica, lying, Maimonides, memorials, openness, patriotic homage, patriotism, prejudice, Rabbi Mitchell Delcau, rabbinate, rabbis, reality of God, reunion, search committee, Seattle, simplicity, social awkwardness, Star of David, temple officials, the unrighteous, truthfulness, Vietnam War, vulnerability, Why Israel, widow, work ethic | 4 Comments

Looking Out for Number One

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Abigail

Looking Out for Number One Quoted in full, Rabbi Hillel’s famous saying goes like this: If I am not for myself, who will be? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? Though … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Autonomy, Christianity, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Health, Identity, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, life and death struggle, Love, Memoir, Modernism, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, Peace, Power, Psychology, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, Uncategorized, Zeitgeist | Tagged alternative treatments, baptism, bereavement, Bucks County, cancer standard of care, charity, Christianity, conversion ceremony, conversions, cynicism, death, distractions, Downeast Maine, egoism, farewells, friendship, funerals, grief, horseback riding, indifference, intimacy, Jewish sages, Judaism, life and death, memorials, mikvah, mitzvot, mortal illness, mourning, number one, obsequies, opportunism, personal presence, personal relations, purity, Rabbi Hillel, rabbinic wisdom, religious affiliation, religious conversion, religious obligation, sages of antiquity, selfishness, Shekinah, sickness and health, social defenses, social facade, social static, solipsism, temple congregation, Valery Rybakow, Weltanschauug, worldview | 7 Comments

“Intimacy”

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Abigail

“Intimacy” A few months ago, a malicious third party made a comment about my mother, whom she had never actually known, that created distance between my mother and me. It was a puzzling, obscuring distance my mother had never occupied … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Erotic Life, Eternity, Femininity, Friendship, Memoir, motherhood, relationships, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged a mother's love, afterlife communication, bereavement, breach of trust, death, distancing, dream visitations, dreams, emotional grounding, false accusations, gossip, I and Thou, intimacy, intuition, malice, Martin Buber, maternal, misrepresentations, mother and daughter, mourning, recognition, solipsism, tenderness | 2 Comments

Tag Archives: bereavement

“Intimacy”

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