As a child, I spent my free time divided between two activities—exploring the environs in and around my hometown, and reading everything under the sun. Ranging from biography to high fantasy to rigorous logic, these books shaped my tastes, thoughts, and aspirations. Ever since attending first grade—at Wiley Elementary School in Hutchinson, Kansas—I’ve loved to [...]
I have lived a life of violent extremes: outcast and king, shepherd and warrior, betrayer and betrayed, a man of song and a man of blood, the worst of sinners and the beloved friend of God. What have the mountains and valleys of my life taught me? One thing and one thing only: patience. Author’s [...]
Though myths lack literal truth, I am convinced that they contain true wisdom that must be attended to by those who desire to grow intellectually, morally, and spiritually. How, you may ask, can I both reject and embrace the message of the myths? Author’s Introduction: Imagine if Homer, Virgil, Dante, Chaucer, and the other great [...]
The Christian belief in the Eucharist stands as a universal expression of faith in a transcendent value that exists beyond human effort, to which we can nevertheless strive through faith. It would be hard to find anything in the history of civilization quite like this mystical belief that bound Christians together in communion for centuries, [...]
Oh, pay heed, citizens of the twenty-first century, to Philosophy’s warning. There are many in your day who think they can control Fortune’s Wheel. They cannot. Those who reach the top of her Wheel may rejoice for a day, but sooner than they think, the Wheel shall spin and they shall accompany it in its [...]
In the Year of the Dragon The Lion fell: Exhausted, confused, Lost in the thickening mist of age and pain, His brittle claws still deep in the flesh of his prey, His iron, toothless jaw still clamped on Life’s throat. […]
There is always room in the temple of poetry for another voice, another perspective, another way of tackling the great themes of humanity. So listen to me, now, you who will grace this earth 2000 years after I’m dead and gone: Be the person you were created to be. Author’s Introduction: Imagine if Homer, Virgil, [...]
The imagination should be a mirror, not a psychedelic portal, transcending reality without renouncing the transcendentals. Catholic professor and writer John Senior possessed a sharp imagination, which he once leveled against Dumbo. “Dumbo is an abomination of the imagination,” he said. “Elephants can’t fly. Horses can fly.” Dr. Senior’s intriguing statement poses the controversial position [...]
When man pursues beauty, he takes it into himself and becomes beautiful through it; a perpetual beauty-seeker, such as Don Quixote, is, therefore, a beautiful man. He conceived the strangest notion that ever took shape in a madman’s head, considering it desirable and necessary, both for the increase of his honor and the common good, [...]
My friends of the future, you may think that the arts have changed radically between my age and yours, but they have not. The relationship between form and content remains constant and must ever be honored and obeyed if one is to earn the title of poet. Author’s Introduction: Imagine if Homer, Virgil, Dante, Chaucer, [...]
I. Who is there? No one. Do I know you? Do you? Don’t answer my question with a question! Who are you? A friend. I have had enough of friends. I think you have had enough of many things. Who are you? That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I have come to offer [...]
The greatness of some children’s books is apparent at the time of publication, but it is only confirmed over time. As the reader grows older, the book still speaks to him. It stands up to many readings (a mercy when parents are called on to read it again and again to children), remaining fresh and [...]
Should an author explain his meaning entirely? As a reader, I like to know that I’m on track, but if an author tells you what to think, do you, the reader, lose something in the process? Can you still see beyond the author’s words or not? At the end of the school year, I ask [...]
Sometimes, when the light and the mists of the day Settle holy and soft on the edge of the night, When the sights and the sounds of the world melt away, And the vision that lives in the soul takes flight, That feeling comes on I felt since I was young, Of poems unwritten and [...]