Black Americans liberated themselves. The moment that there was a possibility of freedom, enslaved Americans took history in hand and fought. With John Brown, they fought against all odds. When Union armies arrived in slave states, black Americans forced those armies to deal with the real cause of the war. They refused to let the war of rebellion be about “union” or “states rights” or any other abstraction. They placed their own bodies on the line for liberty. Hundreds of... Read more
We should not believe unreasonable things. Few disagree, certainly not the God of the Bible. We cannot, never can, should not believe stuff just because we wish the stuff to be true. That is a good way to end up with a pile of stuff and no truth. That’s not too controversial either. The just man wants the truth: eternal, unchanging. Regrettably, we are broken, the cosmos is broken, what “is” is not quite what it should be. If we... Read more
Hope works in our faculty nursery at the School and College. She has seen our own kids and many other children develop. I have gotten to be Dad and watch our children. I get to see what she sees as she teaches. A child is full of wonder and love inspired by beauty. Bring the big red fire truck into the nursery and little Bea will wish to ride wearing her pink tutu. She wants to learn about this awesome,... Read more
I have grown old talking about beauty. When I began, I was a relatively young man or at least young enough looking to pass as one. No longer. I am, as I write, in what my Mom calls “the youth of old age.” That is another way of saying “old” Sometimes when I see myself, that makes me sad and reminds me of what my Nana used to say when she herself in an unguarded moment in the mirror: “Who... Read more
I try listening when I cannot see. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. . .Jesus Himself, the Divine Word of God.” said our pastor.* His point was that while sometimes seeing leads to believing (as it did for Saint Thomas), normally hearing proceeds a hopeful change.* God is a spirit and God’s normal method of communication with us is speaking. We can see the True Light, but this generally happens after our listening, our reflection, our hope gains substance through... Read more
The Everlasting Self Comes in from a downpour Shaking water in every direction- A collaborative condition: Gathered, shed, spread, then Forgotten, reabsorbed. Like love From a lifetime ago, and mud A dog has tracked across the floor.* Some events are everlasting. Jesus conquers death, some are shaken off like water off Nessie when she comes in from the rain. Nessie has to go out, even if the weather is what Houston weather often is. She will fetch a ball... Read more
“Is that armor. . .real?” This is a question asked of my son Ian, a most excellent teacher, who was involved in a project a brilliant teacher is developing at our philhellene school: Olympic Day. Over the years, birthdays and Christmas, he has collected battle ready chainmail, helmets, swords, and other accoutrements. As a son of this house, Ian has a disproportionate amount of stuff from the period of Alexander the Great. This began with plastic swords and has moved... Read more
Hating ancient icons, deep truths, ends in ugly idols. Jingoism is the idol that mocks patriotism. The uxorious defaces chivalry. The one who swears by jingo and focuses only on his family has missed the greater good, the deeper meaning of homeland and family circle. All lesser goods point to the good God. When we make more of the lesser, we miss God and ruin all. This mistake makes the icons into idols and idols are always destroyed. Every earthly... Read more
It has been done: on May 5 brave pastors and donors made K-16 happen. What if there was debt free college and a classical, philhellene, Orthodox Christian fully integrated preschool through college program? What if you could graduate with an accredited college degree without debt? What if there were one-on-one Oxford tutorials from faculty with over one hundred years of cumulative great books experience? Today is the sixth birthday of The Saint Constantine School that aspires to offer a full... Read more
Could the Curlytops reveal as much to us about the 1920’s as Gatsby? Probably not, but the books people bought and read must matter a bit. Why shouldn’t the 1920’s be the measured by the Curly Tops, the Bobbsey Twins, or Tom Swift? Why think you can “capture an era” with a book people decades later thought summed up the Twenties that the people then did not buy or read in large numbers? Understanding an era means at least taking... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In