Latest Posts
Spending Wealth for the Common Good
We know that how we earn and spend wealth are significant issues. But often due to the press of life we do not give these the reflection we should. ‘Practical’ demands tend to override deeper human considerations. Our philosophical and theological traditions have much...
Manners: A Lost Key in Raising Children
Although the lack of manners today is generally noted with disapproval, we often do not think of manners as a central feature of how we raise our children. But manners are arguably the major instance of a concrete, tangible thing we are failing to pass on, to the...
Doing Dishes and Great Music
For many of us it is hard to find time to listen to great music. Even though convinced it would be good for us, we struggle to fit it in. Perhaps we can combine two good things: doing dishes and great music. In any case, both are worth making time for. This is a...
Vacation: Practicing for Life
Being too serious about lighter things can ruin them, for instance by undermining spontaneity. At the same time, a certain intentionality is always in order, especially when arranging things for others. Vacation can have a significant place in life, and so it calls...
Pass It On: A Divine Rule of Life
My father loved to say, “Pass it on.” I have an image of him at his retirement saying it to an employee of his who, weeping, was thanking him for being a great employer. There is more here than some miscellaneous nice attitude. Thomas Aquinas suggests this is a key...
‘You Pull, I’ll Push:’ A Father Gives His Life
People say that Tom Vander Woude was an ordinary man, and there is undoubtedly some truth in this statement. Yet, he died an extraordinary death. Reflecting on his life and death gives occasion for us to ask to ask whether the life of a husband and father is ever...
Making Stability in the Home
Our lives today are marked by changeability. Where we live, where we work, and the cast of people with whom we share a life—even if we stay in the same place—change at an unprecedented rate. Other key things also change regularly, such as the basic tools of our work,...
The Pain of Being Raised Different
Educating or forming the young is arduous in any time or place. But given our social nature, human formation is especially difficult in a decadent society. Since education is preparation to be a good member of the community, what happens when society itself is...
Is Friendship a Fairy Tale?
I saw the world differently after reading in Chesterton (in The Ethics of Elfland) that fairy tales help us see that reality is more wonderful than we can imagine. This is profound; our real-life situation is better than a fairy tale! This is perhaps nowhere more...
What Artificial Intelligence and Celebrating Easter Have in Common
We need to garden, now, more than ever. Two diverse things can bring this into focus for us today: artificial intelligence, and celebrating Easter. What is called artificial intelligence (hereafter, AI) is swiftly and steadily making its way into our life in obvious...
Aquinas on Going Up for the Feast
Certain special days are more at the center of life. Some are particular to the person (e.g., wedding, death of parent, graduation); others have universal significance. For Christians, the Paschal days are most special; they are simply the center. How we live them is...
3 Ways Children Can Grow Our Friendship
It is proverbial that children are a unique bond between spouses. More than just a psychological bond, raising children (in the broad and rich sense, which takes a lifetime) is the single greatest natural catalyst, context, and cause of growing marital friendship. A...