“We also marvel that Greeks, who have known so many hardships during wars, civil war, dictatorships, and the like, have not cleared the shelves of toilet paper, pasta, beans, flour, or other staples…

“But that’s only half the story, at least for me. I also need to break out of the routine now and then, turn away from ritual, and engage with the outside world, which…

“I am constantly relocating, moving from room to room. I dare not stay in one place for too long . . . . When Emily starts a home project, she is relentless—a project…

“The road from Jerusalem to Emmaus was about seven miles long—a two- to three-hour walk. It is a long walk when your loved one has died, or you’ve lost your job, or a relationship has been…

“Our university town, Gainesville, is a mirror of the polarization sweeping the nation. The intellectuals look down on the rednecks (until their cars break down) and the rednecks want nothing to do with…

“With our windows open out onto West 52nd street, these days all we hear is the wailing and yelling of the mentally insane street people, wandering aimlessly, some begging the locals, already at…

“In other words, none of us has long. I have enjoyed an enormously privileged life, in no small part because I chose my parents wisely. I have lived a long time, relative to…

“How could this precarious situation come to pass? That instead of climate change we humans might instead be finished off a bit sooner by a simple attack of a highly infectious disease we…

“Having learned from the studies of stressed humans in isolation, NASA has built cupolas into the International Space Station. When tensions mount, astronauts are advised to seek refuge in these snug, windowed spaces…

“I’m not sure who is worse off, leadership-wise, we in UK or our friends in the USA. While your vile nincompoop is in full flow, advising people to inject themselves with detergent, ours…