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Manners: One Major Reason Why
“These people will also discover the seemingly insignificant conventions their predecessors have destroyed. Things like this: When it is proper for the young to be silent in front of their elders, when they should make way for them or stand up in their presence....”...
The Gift in One Man’s Death
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Sir Walter Scott Damian P. Fedoryka, my wife’s father, passed from this life early in the morning July 26, 2022. His life, and his death, can teach me how to...
Dinner at Home: The Key Ingredient
“When you coming home, dad?” “I don't know when” But we'll get together then You know we’ll have a good time then. Cat’s in the Cradle, song by Harry Chapin I wonder how many children—and let’s talk about households with the father in it —have the kind of time and...
Stronger than Fortune
“But the category of friends, which is truly the most holy of desirable things—this is not assigned to Fortune’s list but to Virtue’s.” Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy One of our greatest fears is of bad things that happen to our friends and loved ones. In a great...
Raising a Child Like the Little Prince
“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince A merchant is selling special pills—one pill will quench thirst...
Dead Time, Living Time, Technology, and Leisure
“I have time when I am not conscious of time which presses in upon me in its empty quality, as lifeless time. He who has leisure thereby disposes of boundless time; he lives in the fullness of time, be he active or at rest.” Friedrich Juenger, The Failure of...
Authority and the Gift of Fatherhood
There is perhaps no greater intimacy possible between men than when a son looks to a father from whom he has learned to be a father himself. This Father’s Day, in addition to remembering my own father, I am reflecting on the astounding gift, and challenge, of being a...
Seeking the Unchanging in Bodily Things
“...it has been proved in the life of every man that though his loves are human, and therefore changeable, yet in proportion as he attaches them to things unchangeable, so they mature and broaden.” Hilaire Belloc, The Four Men Life today is characterized by mobility....
What a Woman Can Do, and a Man Should See
Giving birth is the natural complement and continuation of the marital act. Cultural practices informed by human selfishness have deeply marred the sexual act, often stripping it of its natural meaning, intimacy, and efficacy. Cultural practices can have a parallel...
Carrying My Spouse with Me
“Likewise, you should know that you will be so close to your husband that wherever he goes he will carry the memory, recollection, and reminder of you. You notice it in all married couples, for as soon as we see the husband, we ask him, ‘How is your wife?’ and as soon...
Making the Times that Matter
“There is a valley in south England remote from ambition and from fear...” Hilaire Belloc, 'The Mowing of a Field' Reading a Belloc essay aloud is one of my favorite things to do with students in my home—or in this case around a bonfire. Such readings were very...
Start with How You Eat
“We can ask whether and to what extent our customs about eating are informed by insights into our nature. We can even ask whether and to what extent our customs about eating contribute to the perfection of our nature.” Leon Kass, The Hungry Soul Saying ‘goodbye’ to...