Latest Posts
Two Remedies for Affliction: Sleep and Talking to Oneself
Perhaps in our daily afflictions we miss certain remedies that are right at hand. Thomas Aquinas names two that might seem surprising in their simplicity: sleep, and talking to oneself. “Sorrow is mitigated after sleep.” When we wake up in the morning we can have a...
Managing Possessions: The Radical Perspective of a Steward
I often struggle with how to think about my possessions, the things I own and how to use them. Today I was struck by something that, if I take it seriously, could radically change my thinking. I am assigned to attend to my things by someone else. And thus these things...
Vacation for the Sake of Vision
Our word ‘vacation’ comes from an interesting Latin verb that means to be idle, empty, free, or unoccupied. This gives occasion to consider an important question: why do we go ‘on vacation’ anyway? Vacations reasonably can have various purposes. But a line in the...
A Father’s Authority: Love in Action
Sociologist Christopher Lasch once wrote, “Socialization makes the individual want to do what he has to do; the family is the agency to which society entrusts this complex and delicate task.” Complex and delicate indeed. But then again, it is no more complex than the...
Bitter Herbs: As Important as Ever
“…with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.” Exodus 12:8 Mustard greens are being genetically ‘edited’ to remove their bitterness. This is supposed to be good news. Many of the most nutritious greens or herbs are bitter to the taste. By nature. Yet...
Importance of Place: Make a House a Home
Bluebirds and tree swallows raise their young in a house. But though they make a nest, they don’t make a home. Humans make homes. A home is a house where humans make a life together. A home is a physical place distinct from all others precisely because it is the place...
The Gift of Limping: Against Discouragement
“It is better to limp along on the way than to walk with strength off the way.” Augustine of Hippo I meet couples and parents who are struggling with discouragement. It is hard to discern how to face the various challenges of marriage and home life. Especially in our...
Our Need to Garden: Two Urgent Questions
Human nature suggests with some urgency the importance of putting seeds in the earth. We all might stop and give ear to this perennial call and also recognize that our times give it increased urgency. Today, to not-plant seeds should be a rare exception. Aristotle...
Why Celebrate Mother’s Day
The extraordinary richness of what-it-is-to-be-human can be veiled by its normality. Wisdom is often in noticing things so ordinary that they escape notice. Such as motherhood. We should celebrate Mother’s Day if for no other reason than it prompts us to look again at...
Prioritize the Ordinary: Go for a Walk Together
The path to restoring home-life will be in restoring the ordinary. It might not be easy, but it should be rather obvious what to do. If someone takes a ball away from a child, the child will in any case know what to look for—that is, unless it’s gone so long he begins...
Making Life, with Wendell Berry
Hannah Coulter is a book that can change a person. It’s fiction; but it’s not fictional. It takes place in Kentucky; but it has taken place most everywhere. It’s about ordinary human life; and for that reason it’s extraordinary. At one point Hannah looks back on her...
Start a Good Argument Today with Someone You Love
Plato thought it one of the most important things to get right in life: how we have conversations, and indeed arguments, with the people to whom we are closest. Our most significant conversations will usually have an element of ‘argument.' This in itself is natural....