Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. This is a person God can use and a most promising student. When confronted with a basket of summer fruit by the Lord GOD, Amos reported what he saw. He did not try to guess what God was asking, but listened to the question. Amos’ answer is perfect, because he told... Read more
You cannot get hit with a plastic sword on Zoom. This is not a cause for thanksgiving. My brother once taught in NorCal while we were living is SoCal. Each Sunday he would call into dinner. We would move a laptop around the room so he could see what was happening and so we could see him. When he finally came down for the Holidays, there was something odd about see him in 3D. I almost felt that we had... Read more
We need a story that will save us, because logic and facts apart from a narrative will not produce the passion we need to do our duty. A man will die for a flag, but he will not die for facts. To live, thrive, and multiply any good organization or cause must have a central story that motivates, provides a place for reason, and is beautiful. When the reason for being, the story that birthed the movement dies, then nobody can save... Read more
Do not be afraid. History is not ending. Victory is sure: in the sign of the Cross we will conquer. Every day the heroic bell sounds, the students gather, and holy men offer ancient prayers in the city of the twenty-first century. One old prayer we pray daily states the truth: the city of God is protected for all time. Since the great city, Constantinople, the Minis Tirith of ancient world, apparently has fallen to Sauron in this age, how... Read more
The world is so good, because nothing good is lost. When I walk into work, getting ready to teach in The College, I see his olive tree: Alfred Geier. He taught me the dialectic, the need to listen, to persuade myself that following the Logos where He leads is good and necessary. This journey does not turn out where I wish, but it is the only way that makes sense. There are other memorial olive trees for other stories and... Read more
My airline kept the middle seat free. That was most wonderful. This is not about COVID or what we should do, but about sitting on a plane talking, as I often do, masked which I have only done lately. My job requires I fly and my particular brain makes that hard. Once, on the way to Mongolia, the plane hit an air pocket and I was thrown against the ceiling of the plane. I did not like flying already, but... Read more
The voice of Charlton Griffin is the voice of Sherlock Holmes. If you wish to hear a classic read, particularly one requiring British accents, pick Griffin. He reads, performs great texts, and his choices in emphasis, intonation, or characterization present new possibilities to the student. Audiobooks are a blessing to the commuter, the busy teacher, and the person who missed the books he should have read, back when he should have read them. Charlton Griffin has been blessed with a voice... Read more
You never know a person, even if you have been married almost thirty-five years. She began watching the program while I was downstairs, but when I came up I saw the warnings: drug use, violence, foul language, sexuality. Hope is, like Jane Eyre, a free spirit, an independent woman, and so I waited to see what she had chosen: her screen, her choice. It was The Andy Griffith Show evidently chockablock with drug use, violence, foul language, and sexuality. Amazon prefaced that... Read more
Everyday, several times a day, emails claiming that someone wishes to give me money end up in the junk folder of my email box. They vary, some are quite clever, my favorites are from British barristers, and they have one thing in common: I wish all of them were true. None of them are true, but how I wish the UN peacekeepers had picked my non-profit as their favorite charity for Syrian gold. They do not gain plausibility merely by... Read more
The timeshare salesman made a good bit of sense. We were also on vacation and very happy. We loved the location. Maybe. Sadly, we only had that very presentation to decide at the reduced, big sale rates. These discounts couldn’t, wouldn’t ever be repeated again and if we decided NOW we could also have a free vacation package! What is happening? What should we do? Wait and see. If you are not required to decide, then take time. Just now politics, religion,... Read more
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