Catching the Joy of Others [Pope Francis Bookclub]

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 1:30 pm By Leah Libresco

In 2014, I read and blogged through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I wrote about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along. This is the last installment of our Pope Francis bookclub (and I’ll post either a shortlist or a final choice about a Monday bookclub for 2015 next week). I’d like to close with this quote from Francis’s final reflection: There exists a tendency among... Read more

Christ is an Outlier and Should Have Been Counted [Pope Francis Bookclub]

Last updated on: December 22, 2014 at 2:41 pm By Leah Libresco

In 2014, I’m reading and blogging through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along. In the second to last chapter of Open Mind, Faithful Heart, Pope Francis draws heavily on the letter to the Hebrews as he discusses Christ’s role as priest to his people. In fact, I think most of the chapter is simply quotations from that... Read more

My Year-End Book Recommendations in TAC and NRO

Last updated on: December 20, 2014 at 10:36 am By Leah Libresco

I’ve already shared with you guys the ten best books that I read (for the first time) this year, but in case you’re still finishing up shopping for others, I’ve also added my suggestions to both The American Conservative and National Review‘s gift guides for the end of the year. And my recommendations there are a little less narrowly tailored to my hobbyhorses–so fewer philosophy of medicine and disease on those lists. So head on over to both sites to see my... Read more

7QT: Building Imaginary Bridges, Destroying Phantom Boats

Last updated on: December 19, 2014 at 12:59 am By Leah Libresco

— 1 — I’m totally delighted by these mischievous bridges. Euro notes apparently each feature a picture of a bridge, drawn in different architectural styles, but none modelled on a real bridge, so that the nations of the EU wouldn’t be divided into “included in/excluded from currency” factions. But the Netherlands has scuppered that compromise — they’ve built all seven! The local council responsible for constructing a new housing development in Spijkenisse, a suburb of Rotterdam, heard about the idea and approached Stam... Read more

Your religion… is it bigger than a breadbox?

Last updated on: December 17, 2014 at 2:21 pm By Leah Libresco

I’ve been meaning for a while to highlight an interesting project that Christian H has been carrying out on his blog: coming up with taxonomies for religions. And I’m a big fan of the reason he started this project: While trying to find ways to frame my understanding of different religions, and different individuals’ religion, is a worthwhile activity in itself, I would be lying if I claimed that my primary motivation was anthropological or psychological. Rather, I’ve primarily been imagining that this... Read more

Tell Your College Women Friends About Arete!

Last updated on: December 16, 2014 at 2:20 pm By Leah Libresco

The Arete Seminar has opened applications for it’s Summer 2015 program, and it seems pretty likely to me that I’ve either got readers who are interested or who know people who would be interested. Here’s the basics: The Arete Seminar provides an educational program for college-aged women that emphasizes democratic participation and leadership, sustainability, personal and communal responsibility, and intellectual excellence. It combines a top-tier liberal arts academic programming with a practical education in stewardship and citizenship, supported by the three... Read more

Filing Down the Sharp Edges of Failure [Pope Francis Bookclub]

Last updated on: December 15, 2014 at 2:57 pm By Leah Libresco

In 2014, I’m reading and blogging through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along. There are two paragraphs in particular from this week’s chapter that give a pretty good impression of what Pope Francis is talking about when he titled this section “The Failure of Jesus” Our human tendency is to disguise all evidence of the reality... Read more

A Rosary App from One of Our Regulars

Last updated on: December 13, 2014 at 9:37 am By Leah Libresco

Following right on the heels of my guest post for Beeminder (on using that website’s commitment contracts in spiritual life), Pedro Paulo Oliveira Jr., a frequent commenter here has taken a turn guest posting there, too. He’s outlining a Rosary app he’s built, and the way he integrated it with Beeminder, so it can update your tally of prayers automatically, to keep you on the straight and narrow. Here’s how his project got started: Our popular Electronic Rosary app helps people to... Read more

7QT: Beautifully Built Things

Last updated on: December 12, 2014 at 1:27 am By Leah Libresco

— 1 — I always take pleasure in thinking about made things, so I especially enjoyed this article from the Kickstarter team on why so many Kickstarter projects have been focused on making a better wallet. Apparently, they’re a common starter project — if you can manage to produce and ship wallets, you probably have the skills to Kickstart and deliver on the complicated project you really want to do: Using the wallet as a conceptual starting point isn’t just a Kickstarter thing,... Read more

“I like to ask: What is my opponent in love with?”

Last updated on: December 11, 2014 at 4:18 pm By Leah Libresco

Back when I was in Ireland, giving a talk on ways to have better fights about religion, I did a short interview with a local news outlet, and I’ve just found the video. In our conversation, I talk a little about my own conversion, and why my approach to argument resembles Ender’s empathetic approach to a fight: “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also... Read more