Raising daughters is easy, they grow up. Tomorrow is the birthday of my first daughter and I did nothing to get her to this day. I can buy a present, but I cannot prolong or put off the day. She has grown up to twenty-three without my doing a thing. Making a beautiful, mature, Christian soul is a great labor and it is all God’s. Yet God allows some of us to contribute as she says a voluntary “yes” to... Read more

An American may never read the Bible, but he knows that Jesus said: Judge not, that ye be not judged. for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Jesus did say it and He meant what He said. Sadly, Jesus did not mean our misreading of what He said. No sage is responsible for semi-literacy. Recently, a Christian writer commented that we had no business, ever , judging... Read more

Romance? I love romance. When I am not careful, I am in love with the mere idea of being in love.  The woman I love, however, the Fairest Flower in Christendom, is stuck with my inability to articulate what I think. When she walks into a room, there are many things I should say, but I end up saying: “I love you.” When she helps our children become happy and successful, I want to admire her genius properly, but I end... Read more

Only the open narcissist admits that he will not listen to criticism.. Interview anyone for a job and ask. Some will go as far as to claim they welcome criticism. Hire them and you discover they may welcome criticism, but mostly as a way to find their enemies. Most of us have decided that the people who disagree with us are not just wrong or do not understand our arguments. They must be fools, knaves, or mentally ill. How else could they... Read more

Reading the news can be discouraging if you care about reality. You do not need me to tell you the West is falling into moral decadence at an increasing rate. The rich will survive this plunge and even enjoy it in the early stages. Things will not fall apart, immediately, but the libertine values promoted will clobber the poor and the poor will not long remain compliant. In a libertine America, the center will not hold. And yet the situation... Read more

I have seen miracles and experienced a few of my own. I have also known people who would cry “miracle” when none occurred and others who would not admit a miracle even when rigorous tests were applied. My purpose is not to argue with either the overly credulous or the overly skeptical, but point to the joy of living with miracles. At a time when I needed direction, a man of God came to me and said some specific words... Read more

A bad feature of celebrity culture is the tendency of smaller groups to develop celebrities that aren’t. Despite being (at least) one quarter of the American population, Evangelical behavior is banned in popular media. Nobody prays over a meal on television unless they are getting ready to bomb an aquarium in order to kill a gay whale. As a result, Evangelicals in media tend to out themselves only at the very end of their careers in the religious equivalent of... Read more

My daughter played “Joan of Arc” in the play Triumphant this weekend and I saw again why I love the Maid of Orleans. She is strong, right, and unselfish, but enough about my daughter. Joan of Arc is an icon of powerful, holy, brave womanhood that my daughter Jane exemplifies and we have never needed Joan more. Joan is worthy of honor and if she was also a touch mad, then it was the madness that happens when human beings come close... Read more

Today the shield of the West failed and we are still paying the price. When Rome decayed and died in the West, losing all ability to save most of the great culture of Greece and Rome, there was one city that saved most of what was saved. Plato was reduced to one dialogue in the West, but this city saved all of Plato and studied him for centuries. Battered by barbarians, surrounded by paynim, the Queen of cities endured all,... Read more