Galveston is, roughly, twice as large as Manhattan. It is also entirely a gazillion times less populated, vital to industry, or important in American history. The Confederacy could not keep it, the Union hardly wanted it. Hurricanes cut her date with destiny short. Galveston is a Houston vacation spot: the a-bit-quaint neighboring metropolis on the Gulf. That’s what you see if you don’t know what you are seeing, heading off on a cruise hardly noticing where you are leaving. I am... Read more
A Mild Fan: Life With Star Wars as Excellent Entertainment Star Wars changed movies for me: good story telling could be combined with a theme park ride. I recall sitting in the theater and as Luke Skywalker started the run that destroyed the Death Star, I realized I was gripping the seat so tightly I had hurt my hands. I tried to relax, but then the Falcon appeared. The days of slow moving 2001 or cheesy Buck Rogers style movies were over. Star... Read more
Every kid should get a dumb phone. Why? Having the ability to call home, text home, is good. I have come to the conclusion that most of us, especially me, need a “dumb phone.” We need to be able to call, get directions (perhaps), but we do not need to be in constant contact with vast social networks all day, every day. Nobody makes us check our phones all day, but the temptation is there and for younglings, the social... Read more
The Magic is Real If magic were real, then what would you do with (say) an invisible ring? College students over the decades have answered this question with an astounding lack of creativity. Apparently, many who were given magical power would misuse that power. Plato and Tolkien both saw that coming! Most of what we now call “magic” are the methods that failed, worth a try, but not productive or wholly dangerous. Yet we need not guess what we would do as science, the... Read more
I am thankful to know His Grace Bishop Thomas, a teacher, leader, and compassionate man worth hearing. Here are some reflections put together by His Grace and a team on the value of the Advent fast. I am thankful that His Grace gave permission to reprint it here. His Grace: “For the Healing of Soul and Body: Let us Pray to the Lord” By Bishop THOMAS (Joseph) and Subdeacon David Hyatt Fasting is an important spiritual struggle that carries us... Read more
I asked for new voices and have received some wonderful writing. Here is another piece by musician and scholar Christina George. Dr. George is a pianist and musicologist who graduated from Biola University and the Torrey Honors Institute in 2014. She has just completed her PhD in Musicology at Claremont Graduate University, and her research deals chiefly with the nature of “good taste” with specific application in music. Christie is married to the love of her life, Garrett, and they currently... Read more
My grandfather was killed by Union Carbide. They couldn’t bother to give him asbestos protection, knowing the pittance they would pay my grandmother would not matter to the bottom line. This is not a free market, but powerful plutocrats with politicians in their pockets banking on being kept safe from the consequences of evil. Liberty for all requires government that will push back on this plutocracy. Whatever his faults, and like any man they were many, Theodore Roosevelt knew this, felt this,... Read more
Education begins in wonder, asking the right questions, and never ends. That’s great, but if we choose badly, and many of us choose badly, we might end up needing wisdom, longing for wise guides, but surrounded by (apparent) fools. Phillip E. Johnson loved to quote The Court Jester where the tyrant says: “Why must I be surrounded by fools?” The answer, of course, is that like is attracted to like and fools have come to answer us in our folly. This seems... Read more
Lying to the Leader: Self-Dealing or Clever? Would you tell the leader, a President, Pope, or potentate, what in his pride he wished to hear? Would you lie? What if a kingdom the reward for a bit of flattery? Isn’t London worth a lie? Many would prevaricate, confident their own character would survive one little “white lie” and that the outcome of the lie is (somehow) certain. After all, God can forgive anything. We might lie and then be sorry. Wouldn’t any... Read more
My Brother Being Mean Did Not Justify My Taking His Candy When I was a boy, sometimes (not so often!) my brother would do something wrong. If I was being rotten (too often!), this would not lead me to desire justice, but to feel like I had some power over him or that the bad thing he did to me justified all sorts of treats. I did not wish justice, some should have been coming, but used his injustice as a chance... Read more
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