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
When God first created, he spoke forth the names of his creatures, and they were. When God redeems a man, he speaks his own name silently within that person, and God lives ever more in him, and he in God. Continue reading The Silent Word of God
If you had long known your friend’s face (having lived with him day after day), what would happen if you met his father? You might have the experience of looking upon something or someone you knew very well, even without having known his very person. Or if you had walked through the rooms of a … Continue reading A Pattern Revealed
I made the case in the first part of this series that to be in the body, at least in this life, is to be apart from God. But how can we be apart from the one in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28)? I do not mean that he … Continue reading The Order of the Body (Limits, Part 2)
You, O Lord, have made us human persons and as such, we long for the bodily presence of those we love. The theme of community and of bodily presence has been at the forefront during these days of social distancing. The season has provided an opportunity to recall truths concerning of our bodily existence. It has … Continue reading Let the Blessings of this Life have their Place (Limits, Part 1)
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