Imagine education designed to put you in chains. Plato described it (Republic VII) and Carter G. Woodson fought it and knew in part how to defeat it. Racism in America (within my own lifetime) was a central feature of the academic curriculum in government schools. This has not ended. In my own career, I have seen excellent faculty denigrated and ultimately let go, because they were too “black.” If you have not, pause. Think. We have made great strides over the... Read more
Here is a sad fact: I am much slower than I was when I was young. If speed is required to get out a building, then I am in trouble. That was not always true for me and so points to a general truth: people get slower as we get older. Another general truth is that speed does not matter, except when it does. I am not equal to the fast. Thank God many religious cultures, including Christianity, and some... Read more
Students could call him Al, he insisted, the fabulously learned man who led text based discussions better than any person I have ever met. How? He was endlessly patient. Al would discuss an idea about texts he knew (in Greek) by heart with a freshman in college for hours. He would let the youngling work through bad ideas with a tenacity that was tireless. He never allowed a foolish idea to just sit there, he would challenge it, but gently.... Read more
Once upon a time there was a man in a beautiful Kingdom that was given to opining. He warned people about an evil ruler, King Noaccount. This man had no doubt King Noaccount was bad and had even less desire to normalize his weird behavior. As a result the man pounded every day on the evils of King Noaccount. “We are all going to die.” He said every time the King did anything. Of course, people did not seem to... Read more
Many students use Plato’s ideas without realizing they are doing so. As a result, we end up discussing Plato again and that can be tiresome. We must talk about Plato to understand our assumptions, but Plato ends up everywhere! The longer we have believed an idea, the more it slips into the cracks of our minds. We embrace it without knowing it. This is dangerous because if we do not understand why we think something is good, we might cease to take the truth seriously, or even use... Read more
Used to be that the people you knew, that you heard the most, were the people you knew in three dimensions. Friends were friends and you joked with them, helped them, failed them, got old with them. They may have moaned about you in private, but they had that privacy in which to complain. Grownups learn that people posture, even to themselves, and that a public statement, considered and careful, may be more sincere than some smack talk in private.... Read more
Nothing could be worse than a fat tyrant, widely viewed as mentally incompetent, weak, and behind the times. Right? Ask the French. Read more
Some church leaders are wonderful, but intimidating. Some might want lunch with Saint Augustine, but I would be afraid of looking like I was enjoying it too much. Gregory the Great is great, but a very powerful personality. That is why I am glad there is a church leader who was given and kept the name Euthymius. Yesterday when praying, and reflecting on the saint of the day, I realized that his name must mean something like “happy hearted” and... Read more
Beauty is needful always, but just now deeply. God help us, but we need the hope that comes when we see beauty. Flashy men can distract from the loveliness, the brilliant, but the soft beauty of the garden endures. The wise go to the garden and talk there with God. The American poetic genius, Anne Spencer, is the beauty America always needs, but often ignores. She was centered, happy, yet realistic. Truth telling includes not just the bad news, but... Read more
His name was Clement: student of the apostles. He saw a good thing go bad, a good church founder, and he knew what to do. What makes a good community go bad? We do not have to guess because church history has been teaching us the answer since the start of the church. Clement did not have to guess what the apostles meant in the New Testament. He had talked to them. Joyous news: we can read the students of... Read more
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