To R. B. THE FINE delight that fathers thought; the strong Spur, live and lancing like the blowpipe flame, Breathes once and, quenchèd faster than it came, Leaves yet the mind a mother of immortal song. Nine months she then, nay years, nine years she long 5 Within her wears, bears, cares and … Continue reading Gerard Manley Hopkins Poem in Anticipation of College Talk
Euclid The study of Euclid’s Elements serves as an excellent example of the contemplative learning process. Proposition 5, an early proposition in the text, marks a turning point for most students, where they must not only identify a chain of equalities (something akin to a hypothetical syllogism), but do so in transposition. Whereas students needed only identify equality by imposing … Continue reading The Poetics of Faith and Learning, Part 1
Stories are so much more than spoonfuls of sugar which help the moral medicine go down. Because all of God’s activity has the structure of narrative, stories are the habitat in which ethical realities exist. As water is to fish, so is narrative to ethics. For this reason, stories play an integral role in our moral education, and … Continue reading Well Wrought Stories and Moral Judgment
When the Hairy Hooligans are ambushed aboard their ship, their captors announce a plan to execute Stoick, the head of the viking tribe as well as his heir. It is at this moment in Cressida Cowell’s How to be a Pirate (from her How to Train a Dragon Series) that Hiccup steps forth in heroic loyalty to his father. … Continue reading On the Power of Asking Questions
I am driving 8 hours today to Michigan to attend the 51st annual Medieval Conference in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University. I’ll be presenting a paper on Beowulf! After that, I get to swing by Holland Michigan to see some old friends. a picture from a recent participatory viewing of the Princess Bride at church, … Continue reading Off to Storm the Castle
-True rhetoric must know the nature of things and their ultimate purposes. If we recognize that the body and soul have a purpose and a final end, rhetoric is that which continually persuades us to pursue that end with all are heart, soul, and might. Rhetoric of this kind which persuaded us by logos in … Continue reading The Gorgias: Notes
This lecture was given Thursday, April 21, 2016 at Cornerstone Church in Franklin, Tennessee. It was part of a lecture on speaking and seeking the truth in love. The first half was a presentation by Mark Hays of Classical Conversations. The second-half was presented by me as the following lecture: Introduction There is a lot to … Continue reading To Speak the Truth in Love: A Lecture on Rhetoric in Plato’s Gorgias
Same & Other 