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Living the Last Best Moment – A Stoic Practice
Greta Gerwig once said, “You don’t know when the last time of something happening is. You don’t know what the last great day you’ll spend with your best friend is. You’ll just know when you’ve never had that day again.” That line has echoed in me ever since I first heard it. It captures both the sweetness and fragility of the present moment.
The Stoics knew this well. Marcus Aurelius warned against drifting into tomorrow, reminding himself that life is lived only in the day at hand. Seneca told us that we waste time as if it were endless. For them, attention to the present was not a poetic thought. It was survival. It was also the way to live a life worth remembering.
I think of an afternoon long ago with my friend Jim, shooting pool at his parents’ house. Or a fall day on a golf course with my friend Mike, pausing to look over Moss Lake together. Neither seemed extraordinary at the time. Yet they have stayed with me as “last great days.” The lesson is clear: if I want to live fully, I must live here, in this moment, as if it could be the last best one.
Politics
All the hot-button topics about government, state, local, and federal the courts, and the election.
Apatheia in Practice
This essay is not only about ideas. It comes from my own season of upheaval. I was laid off in June. My husband has just been laid off from his job. I’ve been away from home for three weeks, staying in my mother’s house while she was in and out of the hospital. This past Wednesday, she died. I was holding her hand as she took her last breaths. In the middle of all this, my study of Stoicism has helped me keep some balance. Not by taking away grief, but by helping me live through it without being consumed.
Apatheia means freedom from being ruled by unruly passion. It does not mean coldness. It does not mean apathy. The Stoics were clear about this. Seneca wrote that “anger is a short madness.” Epictetus warned his students not to confuse love with clinging. Marcus wrote, “Take away the thought I have been harmed, and the harm is taken away.” Apatheia does not erase feeling, but steadies it. It gives room for grief, anger, and fear without letting them take over.
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This is our section for articles related to religion, especially Methodism, and the Evangelical movement.
Warriors for Justice: A Stoic Response to Robert Reich
Your first thought might be: One more warrior is exactly what we do not need in this moment. The world feels overrun with conflict already. But what if the kind of warrior we need now is not one who fights for dominance or control, but one who stands calmly for conscience, who chooses clarity over chaos and courage over comfort? That is the kind of warrior Robert Reich wrote about — a woman on the front lines of immigration defense, who meets injustice not with rage, but with a quiet joy rooted in purpose. Her story holds a lesson as old as the Stoics and as current as the morning’s headlines.
This reflection is part of the ongoing “Stoicism Journey” series, which explores how ancient Stoic principles can offer clarity, strength, and moral direction in today’s world. Each piece connects Stoic thought to real-life challenges, often intersecting with faith, justice, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. In this installment, we respond to a story shared by Robert Reich, considering what it means to be a warrior for justice in dishonorable times.
LGBT Issues
Here we discuss the politics of the LGBT movement, stories of events in the community, and anything else related to the LGBT community.
Fun Stuff
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The Economy
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Election 2024 – Hope for Better is All I’ve Got
One of the most frustrating aspects of this election has been watching Republicans continuously out-message Democrats. The GOP has mastered the art of stirring up fear and resentment, delivering simple but powerful narratives that resonate deeply. Instead of speaking to unity and progress, they speak directly to anxieties and frustrations, offering voters someone to blame for every challenge and setback.
Marva Johnson-Spectrum Douche Bag of the Day
Marva Johnson. Here’s a name you may not know, but you’d better learn who she is, and what here (and apparently her employer’s) agenda is for public education. She also is chair of the Florida State Board of Education, appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014. In addition, In March, the governor appointed her to the 37-member statewide Constitutional Revision Commission.
H-1B Visas – The Joke’s On Us
Recently, I caught a story of an IT firm in Iowa that posted an advertisement for an H1-B only person. The ad by American Technology Consulting, posted to the recruiting website ZipRecruiter, sought a java developer to work in San Diego. Initially, it stated “H1B Only,” but has now been changed. This seems to bring home something I’ve seen frequently, and that is a perceived abuse of the H1-B program. I say perceived, because the law has changed so much people who passed it in 1952 wouldn’t recognize it.
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