The Class of 1944 Chapel When I arrived in church one morning, I was greeted by one of my former students who is a member there as well. He had brought with him his copy of the Pennsylvania Gazette October 2026 edition of the University of Pennsylvania Magazine. He handed it to me and said, “I thought of you when I saw the article in the magazine.” Among other things it was about a new book by Marty Seligman who teaches at Penn. The book is called “Agency” which is the causal

Joe Cox was many things. He represented the best of humankind, soldier, educator, poet and someone I am proud to say was my friend. I have posted his obituary at the end of this blog to be reminded of his unique contributions to our world and to the military and as Headmaster in particular. Read it and listen to his poetry and be reminded of the goodness of God’s creation. We live in a time when the leadership of the military has been bringing a style of manhood and leadershi

I have written before about seeing the heart of mental health issues by seeing the extremes while studying at Duke Medical Center. Psychosis helps us to see the day-to-day issues of mental health. But given the recent controversy over Jalen Hurts’ medical care, I want to reverse things and take a simple non-threatening medical situation and what was required of me to avoid blood clots. Jalen Hurts, quarterback of the Eagles, was sidelined because of the serious condition of b

There was a memorial service on October 18 in the Class of 1944 Chapel at the Episcopal Academy in celebration of the life of Bill Giles, a former owner of the Phillies, who died at 92. Nancy, his wife, died at the age of 88. She was one of the kindest and most gracious people that I have ever met. He and Nancy sent their sons to EA. Their kids captured the essence of Bill in a wonderful way with their words. Getting at the heart of what made Bill tick were also Phillies Hal

Robert Jastrow was an American astronomer and physicist who wrote a book, God and the Astronomers exploring various themes of the creation stories and theological ramifications of various approaches. He presents an image that I have always found meaningful in dealing with the relationship between science and religion. There is an image that he shows introducing the book that has always stayed in my mind that there is a mountain of knowledge depicted with religion climbing up

The recent news is very disturbing with Trump lifting sanctions on Russian oil when sanctions have been the only thing that has worked for Russia to keep their economy’s head above water. Of course, this will benefit Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine as well as provide a boost to Iran. Russia has been supplying Iran with weapons to kill American soldiers. Trudy Rubin, Inquirer reporter in charge of writing about Ukraine, Iran and Trump’s starting the war with the Netanyahu

A conservative Christian legal group has asked the Pennsbury School District not to hide the gender or pronoun changing of their students. After parents confronted the Bucks County School District, the district gave the student’s given name at graduation but did not change its policy to require the school to inform parents of any pronoun changes or that their child is transgender. I think most parents would have already started a conversation with their student if they have o

“She never says that she was drugged without her knowledge. She admits to taking drugs and alcohol voluntarily and with knowledge. She does not allege that she was forced to engage in any acts. She does not say that she was physically helpless or unconscious or incapacitated at any point during the time at the fraternity house. “I am grateful to Mother Jones Newspaper for information on the New York State Rape Laws Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten didn’t d

The devil is in the details is a phrase that reflects that a plan may contain hidden problems. Something that seemed to be simple, but the fact of the matter is complicated and may cause deeper problems. We saw this in a congressional interview of Jack Smith, the lawyer who brought the case against Trump. It was clearly an attempt for the Republicans to cross exam Smith that contained anger and the belittling of this key figure in the investigation. John Kennedy from Louisian

An alleged date rape at Cornell University contained a troubling/contradictory account of what occurred. A female student attended a party and drank alcohol and had sex with a person. She was Ok with the sex. Later in the evening she had sex in a threesome and then again at another party had sex with a foursome. The sex was casual and consensual. This was in 2024. She recently rethought the evening and because she said “no” to some males she concluded that she was raped. She

Many hear about a course that I took at Berkeley at Yale that seems to have no relevance to everyday life and what you and your friend or mate may believe about the world and your attitude in it. The course is Phenomenology, a study of perception, that was originated with the thinking of a Frenchman, Maurice Merleau-Ponty. I am looking at his seminal book on the subject on my home office bookshelf. He studied the importance of how we see things in the world and one another. O

Theres is a story that has dominated the news by recounting the event of hazing a first-year football player by teammates who beat him and poked at his butt resembling an attack to “broom him,” a lyric that is part of the songs of Meek Mill, the rapper. The football player who was attacked didn’t want to want his mother to know because he really wanted to stay on the team. The bullies did what bullies do which is to isolate the victim and put him or her in a double bind posi