As the great river of human life and discourse flows on, various thoughts and ideas rise to the surface to be carried along as sayings and quotations worthy to be noted and remembered for one reason or another, words that deserve attention in this frayed world of ours. Long ago, when I was gainfully employed, I would attempt to draw attention to some of those words. I would each week post on the classroom wall a quotation of one kind or another that I hoped was worth consideration by the students who went in and out the classroom door. I called these “Words of the Week” and selected them randomly with no single theme or direction,

I have recently thought I might do something like that again to a more varied audience, this time with—I hope—some useful comment of some kind, some observation or explanation that builds on and promotes the thought. For the moment, I will call these occasional notes ”Whispers”, for they are nothing more. My hope is that they will be interesting and in some way, perhaps, useful as we do what we can to navigate our great and dangerous river.