The City glistened by Lake Michigan and was so beautiful that visitors would cry when they saw it. The great Columbian Exposition of 1893 built a White City on the shores of Lake Michigan next to Chicago, a town better known for burning down after a cow kicked a lantern and for being, perhaps in revenge, very good at slaughtering animals. Chicago showed the world, however, that she was also a place that could dream beautiful dreams and make them... Read more
The gods we create can be destroyed, but there is no hope in mankind either. Whatever Richard Wagner intended, that is the message I found in Houston Grand Opera’s concluding opera in the Ring Cycle. About the Houston Grand Wagner Experience We began in 2013 and now we have seen all of the four operas: the story is fully told. The staging was not good, it was as if Michael Bey had decided to do some transformers work, but then... Read more
Having led hundreds of great books discussions, I am often asked how to lead a good discussion. Years of labor can be boiled down into five commands that I cannot ignore. When I get afraid (as I do at the start of term), I remind myself to make it simple. What should I be doing? What must I do? My friend Rod Dreher has shown that a good idea also needs a good title, so let us refer to this... Read more
One million and eighty-seven thousand. That was all. And sixty thousand of it was in pledges. Pledges collected one and two at a time by bulldozing the alum and friends and donors until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times the University President counted it. One million and eighty- seven thousand. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on his leather couch... Read more
The news was so good, he could not stand to believe it. If he did, and it turned out to be wrong, Thomas would not be able to stand the pain. The man he admired and loved was dead. He could go on living, maybe, but if they convinced him that his friend was alive again only to have him discover the lie, then that would be more than a man could bear. Thomas loved Jesus and when His friends... Read more
CS Lewis? I have read some Lewis every year of my life since I was in single digits. Tolkien? When I found him in seventh grade, I lost a weekend on Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Since that year, Tolkien has been a constant source of joy. John Chrysostom, Augustine, and John Bunyan keep teaching me. I like to read and great books matter. You don’t need me, a non-expert, to tell you John Chrysostom is worth hearing . . .... Read more
Most college students I meet have not heard of Agatha Christie or Ray Bradbury. This is not tragic, like going to a school that cannot afford textbooks or starting the school day with no breakfast and little chance of lunch. It isn’t even educational fraud, like paying for an undergraduate degree (and getting debt) at a school where a senior administrator says: “They don’t need Shakespeare”* I am not even sad about it really, if the student has other (and... Read more
There are some really evil books out there: think Mein Kampf. There are also books that are just wretched: try Star Wars: Aftermath. There exists a select group of books that are both wretched and evil and I had the misfortune to read one as a child: Mimi’s House Party. If you think there was a Golden American Age before the War, this book should dispel that illusion in three ways. First, racism, overt racism, peddled to kids is just as bad as anything we are... Read more
Once a man reaches a certain age, the young man clothes of his youth look like young man clothes on an old man. This is not good. Sadly, almost all fashion trends have catered to the man of less than Chestertonian bulk. We cannot wear track suits, because the notion of my running laps is either frightening or disturbing. We are men and not boys, yet “man clothes” even in Texas have been reduced to polo shirts and khaki. That is... Read more
A joy of having adult children is knowing the many, many things that I should never say, why I should never say them, and the penalties for saying them. One child threatens to “break me” if I ever again say that anything said three times or containing chimps can be funny. This is not only false (in his opinion), but irritatingly so. As there are millions of dads in America, I hope that this (not all) inclusive list will help you... Read more
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