Tradition! Tradition! Sing it like Tevye. We all know that not all traditions are healthy or good or right. Fiddler on the Roof, much as I find it entertaining, strikes me on every viewing as just a bit too much in the spirit of the 1960s in its glee at razing traditions sensible or no. [...]
My mother’s unrelenting message to me was: Keep your head, keep your feet planted on the ground, muster courage in the face of the ambiguous and the unknown, do what is in front of you, and by all means possible take care of your responsibilities. I’ve had more vaccinations for more virulent diseases than most [...]
With so much buying happening online or through self-service kiosks, the art of shopping has lost much of its attraction. Some market-savvy executives have noticed this shortcoming and have recently introduced slow checkouts, which turn the routine chore into a meaningful experience. With so much buying happening online or through self-service kiosks, the art of [...]
I am increasingly persuaded that the great divide in this country between right and left comes down to a divide between those on the right who think that the United States has essentially been a force for good in the world and those on the left who think this country has essentially been a force [...]
If you want to understand 98% of the unhappiness in the world — whether it is on the stage of international politics or the stage of your kitchen or bedroom, or wherever your arguments happen—consider the roots of resentment. By resentment I mean something quite dark within the human heart. This heart of darkness is [...]
In a season of disharmony, discord, distrust, and disorder, it is often painful to stop, to pause, and to give oneself distance enough to consider what must be recognized as good, and true, and beautiful, even in what seems a cesspool of existence. To give thanks, though, is not only necessary, it is salubrious! In [...]
What made Aaron Feuerstein famous was not success but his attitude in the face of catastrophe. When a fire destroyed the textile mill he owned, he faced the decisions of whether to rebuild and whether to continue to pay his 1,400 workers, who were left destitute in the dead of winter. His decision became a [...]
Is Robert Nisbet’s “The Quest for Community” a historical artifact or a living source of wisdom? Has his insight into the natural human desire for community become a moot point in light of the rise of the State, which has replaced the church, family, and neighborhood? Of the many books that Robert Nisbet wrote during [...]
The solution America needs involves creating deep and enduring bonds through which outstanding individuals, with grit and God’s good help, get things done. Amid the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, a glimmer of honor appeared on the horizon. A group of American veterans helped evacuate fellow Americans and faithful Afghans left behind with the Taliban. These [...]
How are evangelicals to navigate the current storms while remaining faithful to biblical truth and Christian compassion? How can we engage in true Christian dialogue without immediately pigeonholing our fellow evangelicals politically, or questioning their “true” motives, or holding them to a narrow litmus test of orthodoxy? The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims, by [...]
From innumerable living room debates, I see people not only do not know how to argue, but do not care to. Instead they leap to quarrel, so that interruptions, interjections, a raised rate and volume of speech, heightened emotion, the dismissive sneer, and the personal attack become ‘rebuttal.’ The olden days. We professed rhetoric, always [...]
A ride on the river and a small-town celebration are a perfect way to spend a summer Sunday. “Dave, let’s go rafting.” It was my friend Ujae (pronounced You-jay), one of those fabulous immigrants (he’s Korean) who love America passionately and understand that it is both still a place of opportunity for one who hustles [...]
The American community that I, a Chinese national, discovered on Perrin Avenue in Lafayette, Indiana, offers its members a supportive and loving world in which religious and cultural traditions are preserved and shared beliefs venerated. It embodies many meaningful elements indicative of the original form of the community, which are absent in the ersatz ones [...]
What really made me love New York City was the discovery of some of those conscious forces G.K. Chesterton talked about. I discovered that not only were the famous five boroughs their own conscious forces, but within the boroughs were smaller forces—neighborhoods just as homey and parochial as any small town anywhere. Though I grew [...]