I died for beauty — but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When One who died for Truth, was lain In an adjoining room— He questioned softly "Why I failed?" "For beauty," I replied— "And I — for truth, — Themself are One — We brethren, are," He said— And so, as Kinsmen, met at Night— We [...]
Euthanasia and physician-assisted death is a topic much in the news these days. After the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent ruling, the Canadian government is busy with legislation overseeing such practices. Perhaps the viewpoint of an ancient school of philosophical thought, Stoicism, may aid contemporary reflections on the matter of physician-assisted suicide, especially since such [...]
Thou unrelenting Past! Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain, And fetters, sure and fast, Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign. Far in thy realm withdrawn Old empires sit in sullenness and gloom, And glorious ages gone Lie deep within the shadow of thy womb. […]
What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, “Life is but an empty dream!” For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; “Dust thou art, to dust [...]
Through the travail of the ages, Midst the pomp and toil of war, I have fought and strove and perished Countless times upon this star. […]
Chess is a relatively simple game. The board can fit on a small table and only has sixty-four squares in eight rows of eight. There are only thirty-two total pieces, and the pieces always begin in the same positions. The rules can be written on one page and learned in one sitting. Though simple, chess [...]
What’s the big deal about facing death if you know you are going to be saved? Mr. Christopher Nolan has asked us to consider this question so many times it would be impolite of us not to oblige him. His films The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), and Interstellar (2014) each run an experiment upon the [...]
And death shall have no dominion. Dead man naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon; When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone, They shall have stars at elbow and foot; Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the [...]
It is clear that the date of the Lord’s Crucifixion would have been well-known to the early Church and that this is the very source of the tradition that I have no trouble accepting as true. And this is the reason for my claim that this particular Good Friday is extra special. Editor’s Note: This [...]
It is interesting to ponder how the reputations of John F. Kennedy and C. S. Lewis have fared. How have they weathered the inexorable passage of time? And where are they now: in Heaven or Hell? At 5:30pm (UK Time) on November 22, 1963, C.S. Lewis collapsed in his home in Oxford after a long [...]
The film “Gladiator” imparts a feeling of what living according to Stoic virtue might be. One of the best Stoic lines of dialogue in the film is given to Maximus, who says: “I knew a man who once said, ‘Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.’” In Ridley Scott’s [...]
Justin Kurzel’s “Macbeth” features many streams of spilt blood, but a deeper current moves below the surface. It is animated by an awareness that life, though vulnerable, is an intrinsic principle and fundamental desire. It may seem absurd to leave after seeing director Justin Kurzel’s new adaptation of Macbeth* and to think, “Now that’s pro-life.” [...]
In his last days, Steve McQueen raced to Mexico looking for a miracle cure to the cancer that was killing him. He didn’t find one. But he found something else. From what had he fled? From what was he running? What was it that pursued him? The film titles give us some clues, as does [...]
It is said that Oscar Wilde was once asked whether it was true that he had walked down the Strand with a lily in his hand. “To have done it was nothing,” he replied, “but to have made people believe one had done it was everything.” Wilde’s point was that the truth was less important [...]