Heck no, I’m not going out there right now

First snow of the season here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Might slip to around 12 degrees tonight.  Icy cold winds whistling down the hollers.  Blowing hard.

And this, from an interesting review of Karen Armstrong’s new book on Sacred Texts by Nicholas Kristof in the NYT today:

“The ancient Chinese scholar Xunzi complained about an early version of what today we might call religious blowhards. ‘The learning of the petty man enters his ear and comes out of his mouth,’ Xunzi protested, adding that the words have affected only ‘the four inches between ear and mouth.’ Instead, the aim for a wise man should be that learning ‘enters his ear, clings to his mind, spreads through his four limbs and manifests itself in his actions.'”

Makes warm sense on a cold day.

(btw, I think I would have some questions for Armstrong, if I could afford her book, since I used to teach basic courses in scriptures of the world religions)