It seems entirely possible to be both irreligious and spiritual. To have little-to-nothing to do with organized religious activity and, yet, suspect there may be something outside (or inside) the physical world.

There is a curious word in the Old Testament which appears only six time (I’m working from memory), pleroma, which is habitually translated as fullness, as in “the fullness of time.” From another point of view, pleroma has a significantly different meaning: Gnostics understand it as the barrier or boundary between this world and the homecoming we hope to achieve. Gnosticism holds a different, simpler template for us to achieve that homecoming, one which I find hopeful for us all. For the curious, I’ll try to explain my understanding of the task at hand.

In the end which may be closer than I imagine, my current choice of epitaph is this: “Better luck next time.”

A Basket of Puppies

My mom sent me to the FFC Market in Mesopotamia, about eight or nine block from home. I was supposed to pick up a fresh chicken for supper that night but didn’t know that Ms Pirtle’s dog Hester had just birthed four pups a few days before. So I came home with a chicken and a pup.

This foggy image is what the seller ahs posted on eBay, and I’ve not managed to find another.

It immediately caught my eye because its style is reminiscent of work by Chicago architect Lawrence Buck—though I doubt he’d have used those Tuscan columns on the front porch. Still, it is a handsome house which need investigation.