Blog - Human Nature

The Task Before Us

Posted by Roberta Grimes • February 13, 2021 • 24 Comments

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work, and defend thee; Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee; Ponder anew all the Almighty can do, He who with love doth befriend thee. – Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878), (translator from German), from “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (1863) Today’s topic has been a... Read More

Living a Love-Based Life (Part IV)

Posted by Roberta Grimes • January 30, 2021 • 32 Comments

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. – Elizabeth... Read More

Living a Love-Based Life (Part III)

Posted by Roberta Grimes • January 23, 2021 • 59 Comments

Morning has broken like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing, Praise for the morning, Praise for them springing fresh from the world. – Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) from “Morning Has Broken” (1931) Two millennia after Jesus taught us how to love as the Godhead loves, that perfect divine... Read More

Living a Love-Based Life (Part II)

Posted by Roberta Grimes • January 16, 2021 • 36 Comments

I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way! Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier. Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be. – Michael Masser (1941-2015) & Linda Creed (1948-1986), from “The... Read More

Now, About Sex… (Part III)

Posted by Roberta Grimes • December 12, 2020 • 25 Comments

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation! Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near, join me in glad adoration. – Joachim Neander (1650-1680), from the German “Praise to the Lord” (1680) The only approach to morality that... Read More

Now, About Sex… (Part II)

Posted by Roberta Grimes • December 05, 2020 • 48 Comments

Don’t you think it’s rather funny That I should be in this position? I’m the one who’s always been so calm, so cool, no lover’s fool, Running every show. He scares me so. – Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, from “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1971) The divine love that Jesus taught is the only kind... Read More

Now, About Sex… (Part I)

Posted by Roberta Grimes • November 28, 2020 • 57 Comments

I don’t know how to love him. What to do, how to move him. I’ve been changed, yes really changed. In these past few days, when I’ve seen myself, I seem like someone else. – Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, from “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1971) Animals reshuffle genetic material in the process of producing... Read More

“I Have a Dream…”

Posted by Roberta Grimes • June 27, 2020 • 14 Comments

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men – black... Read More

The Quality of Mercy

Posted by Roberta Grimes • June 13, 2020 • 42 Comments

The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.        – William Shakespeare (1564-1616) from The Merchant of Venice (1605) As a teenager I memorized the entire “quality of mercy” speech from... Read More

What Good Is a Crisis?

Posted by Roberta Grimes • April 25, 2020 • 41 Comments

Disaster is the mother of good fortune. There is so much comfort in the usual, and so much risk in anything that’s new, That our lives plod into the grave without our noticing their passage Unless some fortunate tragedy blunders in our way. One of the loveliest things about humankind is our zesty adaptability, our... Read More