From the Stacks: February 17, 2006

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The newest issue of Parabola contains some very old wisdom. Their theme for the spring edition is "Coming to Our Senses," and it seems that this issue wants us to do just that. It skillfully weaves together disparate elements: poetry from A. R. Ammons and Rainer Maria Rilke pop up between pieces on "Scent as medium between heaven and earth" and "Freeing the gaze from 'mere looking.'" Most piercing this time is the short piece on monk, hermit, theologian, poet, and artist Thomas Merton. Merton once claimed: "If I could not breathe Zen I would probably die of spiritual asphyxiation." For Merton, writer Roger Lipsey suggests, breathing Zen was a way to clear an inner space for everyday life. Picking up Parabola -- a 2005 spiritual coverage nominee for an Utne Independent Press Award -- just might have the same effect. -- Nick Rose

The February edition of Our Toxic Times, the monthly publication of the Chemical Injury Information Network, arrived this week. Among the usual bevy of articles on the often overlooked and dangerous chemicals infused in our lives is "Antidepressant Ads Misleading" -- a rehash of a piece in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine that takes aim at the brain science touted by drug makers when hawking their wares. Other items of interest deal with jet fuel's impact on a person's sense of balance, building resiliency to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and dangerous toxins in post-Katrina New Orleans. -- Bennett Gordon

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