Turning Aside To See

In the biblical book of Exodus Moses comes across a great sight in the desert: a bush that burns and is not consumed. When Moses turns aside to see this strange sight, God speaks to him from the burning bush. Marder uses this parable to frame his belief that we must give our full attention to life’s powerful and seemingly inexplicable events and learn what truth they might reveal. “No, I have no use for religion,” Marder writes. “But I do use the word God. I use it mockingly, but I use it. I use it to talk about the residual. When everything we know has been counted, there remains that which we do not and cannot ever know, that which is left over, the residual. Today I am down to a single dogma: “Whichever way it is that the world is, it isn’t the way we think it is.” Marder’s stories examine questions of morality and redemption. A beloved father wrestles with declining faculties. A marriage dissolves after thirty-five years. A child dies. Viewing “God” as a metaphor for ancient mysteries, Marder contemplates love and loss, uncovering meaning in his most troubling experiences. Each chapter of Turning Aside to See charts Marder’s quest for a deeper understanding of our duty to nature, to others, and to ourselves.

ERIC MARDER holds degrees in sociology and electrical engineering. Early in his career, he taught physics in several schools, including Rutgers University. Later, he founded an innovative marketing research company, which he served as Chairman for over 50 years, ending in 2010, and in which he developed the theory, methods and data summarized in his book The Laws of Choice (Free Press 1997). He ran and finished the NYC Marathon 3 years in a row, the last at age 66.