The natural world can refresh our hearts and minds through an ecstatic (ek-static) experience, drawing us out of ourselves. The uplift which we experience in nature borders on gratitude because implicit in the experience is an intuition of unity, proportion, and clarity. In this respect, nature calls us into an awareness of a super-personal order … Continue reading Like a Revelation
If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that … Continue reading An Allegorical reading of Deuteronomy 25:5-6
“Man is not rational…just look at him!” I hope you grasp the equivocation. Man is a rational animal, but this need not mean he acts reasonably. Reason can be, in this manner, most unreasonable. Even when using the mind to make judgments (which is by definition an act of reason), one’s conclusions need not be … Continue reading The Folly of Reason: Training the Mind
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Jesus is our Eucharistic Lord. He is our thanksgiving. He is our offering to God. Christ’s whole life was an offering, a thanksgiving sacrifice poured out unto the Father and … Continue reading Becoming Thanksgiving
Occasionally, I hear my fathers voice in church. He is not there. He does not attend church. But I grew up going to synagogue with him and my mother, standing next to them as he sang. He has a lovely voice. In fact, he had musical training as a child and has been in quite … Continue reading In Song, I Hear My Father’s Voice
The liberal arts are often spoken of as a proper human end, that is, not just as a means (something we use instrumentally) but as something we may enjoy. Thinkers like Josef Pieper and Stratford Caldecott suggest that the liberal arts ought to be pursued for their own sake. But does that conflict with the claims of theology? Can such an education be good in and of itself? Continue reading Enjoying the Liberal Arts?
Photograph by Susan Waughtal An old man was upon his regular walk when he cleared the top of a gentle hill. There, at its summit, he passed a fence which surrounded a great field and manor. At a gate near the side of the road was a child whom the old man had often seen … Continue reading The Old Man and the Child
1 Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year. The first month of your year. The Lord’s redemption institutes a new beginning, the true beginning of our life. Thus we reckon … Continue reading A Few Reflections on Exodus 12
What we ask of you as students of New College Franklin is not easy. But if you leave here at the end of four years with finer phrases, with quick answers, and good grades, you will have purchased relatively little for much. You will have squandered a very special opportunity. You are here to do … Continue reading An Informal Charge to Incoming and Returning Students 2020-2021
To the first Adam, the warning was given that if he were to eat of the forbidden tree, dying he would die. You will certainly die (Gen. 2:17) This word was final and irrevocable. Yet this word was not the final word. It was incomplete, waiting for its completion in Christ Jesus who said: I am … Continue reading Yet you shall Live
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