In the alcoholic home and wherever there is addiction or mental illness, children are often forced to deny the things they see and feel. In fact, the unofficial slogan of the dysfunctional family is “don’t talk; don’t feel; don’t trust.” How confusing to depend upon such people for one’s very existence. How strange to love … Continue reading Mary Poppins and Alcoholism
Listening to the Little House series, following the lives of Laura and her family, has not been without its challenges. They are so strict, so obedient, so sufficient and skillful. They are themselves a kind of law that I will never live up to. Further, Laura always seems a bit hemmed in by her Ma, … Continue reading Mercy in Little House on the Prairie
It lasts only two minutes. Titled “Dear Future Mom,” the film features children with Down syndrome from different nations. They speak in…(click here to read the entire article) Continue reading Is the right to abort a child with disabilities becoming a duty?
In Plato’s dialogues, one finds room for speculation and wonder. One also finds the discipline of logic, the presence of faith, and the need for each these modes of thinking to co-operate with one another. This helps us see why philosophy is a most serious and yet wonderful kind of play. As I embark on further graduate … Continue reading An Introduction to Philosophy, Platonic or Otherwise
In less than three weeks, I begin my first class at Holy Apostles College & Seminary (HACS). Since I was a freshman in college, back in 1997, I began to set my eyes on graduate work in philosophy. I would never have imagined twenty years would stand between those dreams, that I would be taking … Continue reading A New Stage in the Journey
My friend Hannah Eagleson put me in touch with them. the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). ESN is a ministry of InterVarsity geared toward graduate students and those in academics. I was asked to write a short piece for thanksgiving and here it is: http://blog.emergingscholars.org/2016/11/thanksgiving-for-domestic-hospitality-scholars-compass/ Continue reading Thanksgiving & Hospitality with the Emerging Scholars Network
When a father has a daughter he is profoundly confronted by the reality of female personhood. In her, he is invited to acknowledge human dignity anew. This is because a daughter provokes a non-erotic love for one of the opposite gender. This love directs him to cherish, to protect, and to nurture his daughter, and in … Continue reading Daughters or Double Standards?
Parenthood in A Brave New World is considered obscene. Motherhood, fatherhood, and family-life are looked upon, not only as antiquated, but as shameful. There is a powerful logic at work in the novel, a logic which is at work in our own culture. When sex ceases to be linked with marriage or reproduction, our bodies and our bodily existence can … Continue reading Squeamish About Our Bodies (The Third of Three Meditations on A Brave New World)
To be a disciple is fundamentally to be a learner. But while a geometry student submits his mind to a proof or theorem, a learner of Christ is called to submit his whole being to God. And while the student may come to internalize a truth, the disciple can come to embody God’s presence. This is because both Learning and discipleship happen through a process of poetic formation. In … Continue reading The Poetics of Faith and Learning, Part 4
In one of the most touching sections of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, the recently married Konstantin Levin is repeatedly mystified by his wife Kitty’s behavior. She bustles about his country estate, rearranging the household, changing table cloths, moving furniture, and establishing dining routines. While he cannot comprehend the meaning of her activity, he sees that it engrosses her, and he tolerates it. … Continue reading The Mystery of Marriage in Anna Karenina
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