Tag Archives: heaven and hell

How to Live One’s Story

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Abigail

When I’ve talked about the need to defend one’s story, I’ve had in mind my experience that ill-wishers can show astonishing astuteness in picking out key elements of the life project or story they choose to attack, even before the … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a story’s normative aspect, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", acting on principle, advice from women friends, Afghanistan, analyzing real life situations, attacking one’s story, Bible stories, childbirth out of wedlock, combat veteran, corporate life, corporate politics, defending one’s story, discerning one’s story, doing the right thing, driving with unchecked emotions, emotional tug of war, evil’s timetable, fictional dilemmas, fighting for one’s story, finding the normative element, gaining the world and losing your soul, God’s timetable, good and evil, heaven and hell, ideal solution, identifying with fictional characters, improving one’s story, Iraq, Israelites, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, life's predicaments, living a story, losing one’s story, loss of a child, moral configurations, moral conflicts in fiction, Netflix’s The Virgin River, pregnancy of the other woman, real advice vs slogans, realistic idealism, reconciling realism and idealism, risking one’s job, romantic triangles, sharing grief, small town life, spiritual configurations, the achievable story, the cost of saving one’s story, the ideal as unreal, the ideal story, the lesser evil, the moral landscape, the spiritual landscape, transcendence vs reductionism, unreal solutions, virtue’s timetable, what’s the right thing?, women friends | Leave a 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 | 10 Comments

“Proof of Heaven”

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Abigail

“Proof of Heaven” We are in Riverside, California, having arrived from Phoenix, Arizona, where we had a five-minute TV appearance on Pat McMahon’s show, The Morning Scramble. Jerry had had his first radio interview with Pat, an hour-long substantive conversation … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Faith, Freedom, Friendship, Health, Heroes, hidden God, Identity, Immortality, life and death struggle, Love, Memoir, memory, Mortality, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, politics, Power, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, self-deception, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged afterlife, alimentary canal, Arizona, bacterial meningitis, bodily wisdom, body’s viewpoint, brain death, California, cognitive function, cognitive recovery, cognitive survival, coma, cultural change, cultural influence, Dante, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dante’s Paradise, deathbed communications, Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven, empirical evidence, evidence, father-daughter relations, father-son relations, filial piety, heaven and hell, identity theory, liars, life as story, love as force, Materialism, materialist worldview, media visibility, medical team, medical worldview, mind and body, mortality, narrative view, natural law, near-death experiences, neurosurgeons, out of body experiences, paradigm shift, Pat McMahon, peer pressure, performers, personal identity, personal responsibility, philosophers, philosophic influence, philosophic wisdom, philosophical materialists, Phoenix, professional courage, professional duty, professional responsibility, Q & A, radio interviews, Riverside, scientism, talk shows, the Big Questions, The God Show, The Morning Scramble, the paranormal, trip to heaven, truth, truthfulness, TV interviews, untruthfulness | Leave a comment

“Where Is God?”

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Abigail

“Where Is God?” We flew to Southern California this week, to look in on my father-in-law. He lives in a town near San Bernadino, the now-famous site of the latest mass murders. Over the four-day period of our trip, while … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Autonomy, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Mind Control, Mortality, nineteenth-century, Past and Future, Peace, Political, Political Movements, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, slave, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged adventure stories, adventures, afterlife, afterlife rewards, air travel, anthropologists, authority, bad guys, believers, boyhood, buccaneers, care, classroom discipline, classroom disruption, crewmen, Dante's Inferno, destiny, dying, faithfulness, falsehood, fate, field work, God, golden rule, good guys, Good Orderly Direction, guilty minds, heaven and hell, heroes, ideas, ideology, Jurgen Ziewe's Vistas of Infinity, love of neighbor, Loyalty, magic, mass murder, maturity, mistaken ideas, mutaneers, mutineers, piety, pirates, Portuguese fishing village, punishments, realism, respect, responsibility, rewards, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, San Bernadino, sea captains, seamen, security, Southern California, Success, survival, symbolism, the Other, the political animal, the speaking animal, treasure, triumph, truth, unbelievers, victimizers, victims, Victor Zammit, victory, violent jihadis | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: heaven and hell

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

Recent Posts