We live in an age that is committed to a form of “progress” that disavows the past. It is an age that paradoxically attempts to build upward by destroying foundations. Recently, I came across a very brief essay that profoundly touches upon this disturbing trend. The essay is by the 19th century Russian thinker Vladimir
READ MOREFor my entire school-age existence (even through college), my mother cleaned houses. She worked incredibly hard and built an impressive little business. While I wasn’t a big fan of telling people my mom cleaned houses, I was still very proud of how hard she worked and that she always provided for us. Whenever it came
READ MOREGoing through some old, family documents this week, I stumbled upon a clipping fromHarvard Magazine that included an address given by Reverend Peter J. Gomes of Harvard University to the school’s graduating seniors in 1982. It’s a heart-felt and lively address, which is reproduced below. What stands out most is that Rev. Gomes recognized
READ MOREThe other week, Slate Magazine ran an article which decried the lack of geography literacy amongst American students. Author Joshua Keating declared, “I still strongly believe primary schools and universities need to do a much better job of educating Americans on the natural and political features of our world. Geographical literacy is a major problem:
READ MOREThe economic recession of 2007-09 made many Americans aware how dependent upon the government and the present system they had become. Those who had recently bought houses with little down payments were underwater on their homes. Those who had accumulated a large amount of student loan debt as an “investment” saw their “guaranteed” job opportunities
READ MOREStories of refugees and immigration fill the news. After the awful image of a drowned child washed up on a Turkish beach was promoted around the world, one gets the feeling that any opposition to refugees and migrants is unacceptable. I have a child that age and I see her when I look at that
READ MOREAs you may have heard, Americans are getting married at later ages than previous generations. Many quickly chalk that fact up to a modern tendency to avoid responsibility and commitment. But it might not be so simple as that. Currently, in America, the median age for men’s first marriage is 28.7, and for women
READ MOREYou may have read C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, and perhaps you’ve even read some of his nonfiction works such as Mere Christianity or The Abolition of Man. But chances are you haven’t come across Lewis’ “De Descriptione Temporum” (“On the Description of Ages”) – the first lecture he gave after receiving the
READ MOREDo you know children who are being raised by their grandparents – or were you even one yourself? According to Time, roughly 2.7 million U.S. grandparents are raising their grandchildren, a number that has risen in the last 20 years. What’s driving the increase in custodial grandparents? “Addiction and incarceration rates, child abuse and neglect,
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