For many years I wrote about fiction, story, belief, ordinary life, and the questions that shaped my work. More than two thousand essays remain here—not because every one represents my current thinking, but because together they tell the story of a writer learning over time.
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The archive begins with the most recent writing. Use the numbered pages below to move backward through time.
Drafting–Millie and Molly make Keylime pies & meet the couple across the hall
“You make the crust. I’ll make the filling.” Millie said tossing an apron to Molly. Yesterday afternoon they had taken the five minute walk to Gristedes Supermarket, the…
Here’s the link to this article. By David Madison, 04/21/23. Rise above the credulity expected in Sunday School For many, many people, reading the gospels eyes-wide-open for the first time can…
If It Looks Like a Cult, Walks Like a Cult, and Quacks Like a Cult…
Here’s the link to this article. By David Madison 05/05/23 It’s a cult! With well more than two billion followers, Christianity ranks as humanity’s biggest religion, and thus to many…
What Would You Do If Money Were No Object? Alan Watts on the Life of Purpose
Here’s the link to this article. One key question for breaking free of consumer culture’s hamster wheel. BY MARIA POPOVA British philosopher and writer Alan Watts (1915–1973), author of the…
John Updike on the Universe and Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing
Here’s the link to this article. “The mystery of being is a permanent mystery, at least given the present state of the human brain.” BY MARIA POPOVA “What…
Richard L. Fricks 