Lives on Earth

Chain of life

  • Spirituality in “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey”

    Secular spiritualists, although they trust in nature instead of the supernatural, may or may not as individuals understand much about science. And scientists, who study nature in detail, may or may not find spiritual meaning in it. The relationships between… Continue reading

  • Feces as Medicine

    Yes, that’s right. They’re called fecal microbiota transplants–F.M.T.’s. A healthy person’s stool is mixed in an enema and transplanted to a patient’s rectum. The beneficial bacteria in such transplants are proving very effective in relieving two stubborn illnesses: ulcerative colitis… Continue reading

  • Religion for Atheists

    In his 2012 book Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton has this message for atheists: don’t let your outrage at religion blind you to its wisdom about suffering and its contributions to culture. Religions (in the book, mostly Christianity, some Judaism… Continue reading

  • The Brown Sisters: 35 Annual Portraits

    In 1974, Nicholas Nixon photographed his wife together with her three sisters, their ages ranging from 15 to 25.  He published the photo the following year, took a second that year, and then another photo every year after that. In… Continue reading

  • Five Reasons Why I’m Afraid of Dying—and Some Reassurances

    I’m not in any immediate danger of dying—beyond the usual unpredictables—in that I’m only 69 and quite (though not perfectly) healthy. But the future looms, and I try to feel clearly the fears that go through me when I think… Continue reading

  • Seasons and Heartbeats

    Age: 68. These days the seasons are less like a perfume to me and more like a clock. When I was young, autumns were my favorite season—painfully romantic, full of the future, life-enhancing and lonely at the same time. The… Continue reading

    Seasons and Heartbeats

  • Katydids, Cicadas, Crickets, Grasshoppers

    In last Sunday’s New York Times (September 23), in her wonderful article, “A Little Night Music,” Diane Ackerman contemplates the chorus of katydids, crickets, grasshoppers and cicadas whose evening serenade from backyards and fields in temperate zones this time of… Continue reading

    Katydids, Cicadas, Crickets, Grasshoppers