The sight of a child praying wins more souls than 100 books of apologetics. All sins affect all people. There is no such thing as private sin. A good illustration is sexual sin. The idea that what people do in…
Category: Culture
Most people are rational only up to the point when logic tells them to do something they don’t want to do or believe something they don’t want to believe. One secret to having a long-lasting marriage is not taking yourself…
“I long lived in this state of lunacy, which, in fact if not in words, is particularly characteristic of us very liberal and learned people.” (Leo Tolstoy, A Confession) Quite an admission from this towering figure of philosophy and literature.…
Leo Tolstoy’s non-fiction book The Kingdom of God Is Within You is a forceful argument for non-violent resistance — and against organized religion, governments, and the entirety of pagan civilization under which we have lived for thousands of years. Throw Christianity and…
If there’s one phrase that really needs to disappear, it’s “the science.” Throughout the COVID oppression, politicians have told us over and over that “the science” says this and “the science” says that — as if scientific opinions were scientific…
Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? Translated by Richard Paver and Larissa Volokhonsky What Is Art? Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) spent 15 years mulling over the question before finally publishing his profound essay of that title in 1897. Today’s readers may find many of…
G.K. Chesterton and Leo Tolstoy have exerted enormous influence on thinking with regard to theology, philosophy, politics, economics, social organization, the arts, and science. Both men considered themselves Christians, and both saw themselves as champions of the common man. And…
Who says social media is all bad? Watching this marvelous 23-minute video, which I discovered on the Localism Chesterton Society Group on Facebook, will make you smarter, more confident, and better able to make sense of the information, misinformation, disinformation,…
A collection of Chesterton essays was published July of 2021: Chesterton in Black and White, Essays by G.K. Chesterton from Black and White and The Bystander, 1903-1904, edited by Geir Hasnes. These early essays, with a few exceptions, have never…
One great benefit of COVID is how it has shed light on that which would prefer to remain in the shadows. It becomes ever more obvious the degree to which we are emphatically told one thing on Monday and emphatically…
In 1911, Holbrook Jackson, a British journalist and socialist, privately published a little book called Platitudes in the Making, Precepts & Advices for Gentlefolk. G.K. Chesterton, a friend of Holbrook’s, received an autographed copy, and amused himself by handwriting witty…
This collection of essays published in 2000 was a freebie at the 2021 Chesterton Conference. It includes several well-known essays along with many that were new to me. Unfortunately, the editor did not reference where or when the essays where…
Orwell gave us a good look at what’s beneath the surface. Quite relevant: Key dialog: “How does one man assert power over another? By making him suffer Exactly. Obedience is not enough. Power is inflicting pain and humiliation. Otherwise, you…
In Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky tries to explain the seemingly irrational behavior of humans in psychological terms. First published in 1864, the novella is a fascinating character study that has been called the first existentialist work of fiction. The…
In Contagious Faith, Philip K. Lawler says what I’ve been trying to say in these pages for over a year, with the glaring difference being that Lawler says it much better. He describes the colossal (and ongoing) failure of the…
Zillions of hand sanitizers going for $1/bottle at Walmart, and apparently no takers. Might be smart to buy the whole lot and wait for the next new pathogen. It won’t be a long wait. The senses deteriorate with age. On…
A reader of this blog recommended The Chosen several months ago. What a show. The Chosen is a multi-season dramatic series about the life of Jesus Christ. It combines a faithful rendering of the Bible with creative but totally plausible…
My wife and I were having lunch on the patio of our favorite tiki bar. A glorious day in the Sunshine State. St. Patrick’s Day, too. There was a table of four on the left and a table of four…
Phrases you don’t hear enough on social media: Good point I could be wrong You could be right I respect your point of view I’d like to know more Let’s figure this out I don’t know Let’s think this through…
2020 has been a year of profound uncertainty, and uncertainty is something we humans just don’t like. The year has been full of challenges, obstacles, mental stress, economic misery and spiritual anguish. Do you have days when you feel like…