Some would argue that “Moby Dick,” written at the height of his popularity, is Herman Melville’s best work. But his novella “Billy Budd,” written in obscurity and published twenty years after his death, just might surpass his early masterpieces for its concise portrayal of humanity. “The author is generally supposed to be dead,” writes poet [...]
The original progressives presumed that a permanent federal bureaucracy would be politically neutral. That hasn’t been the case for a very long time. Therefore, real progress today should lead to seriously trimming what is accurately called our administrative state and dramatically increasing the number of political appointees. While the latest round of “no kings” rallies [...]
Saint Augustine was the first Christian to offer a comprehensive Philosophy of History, which the Russian Orthodox writer Nicholas Berdyaev called nothing short of “ingenious.”[1] One of his greatest accomplishments was the sanctification of Plato’s understanding of the two realms: the perfect Celestial Kingdom and the corrupt copy. One finds this tension and conflict between [...]
As we come to the end of this series, there is time for one final song for the unsung, a sort of swan song, a final elegy and eulogy for those unknown heroes and heroines whose passing from this life went unheeded and unheralded but who have been sung to their rest by ministering angels. Whereas [...]
In God, through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are made whole and entire. The warfare within, in our passions, at the division between flesh and spirit, is ended. Now we are “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” “The stone which the builders rejected has become the [...]
For most of our veterans, it should go without saying that military discipline and experience give them a moral authority. It is a recognition—once universal—that is too often forgotten in an age when patriotism itself seems suspect to many. On this day when we honor our veterans, it’s good to recollect both the debt of [...]
As we approach Remembrance Sunday I am reposting this sonnet about the two minutes silence, which was first published in my book Sounding the Seasons. I'm posting it early so that any one who wishes to, can use it in services or events on this Remembrance Sunday. So here is how it came to be [...]
The poet’s career doesn’t end once he dies. The soldier’s career arguably does. The poet-soldier, then, has died physically, but what remains of him is his art. Both Edward Thomas and Francis Ledwidge managed to create something that transcended their persons and lasted long after being killed in war. When we think of English poetry, [...]
The classic comic novel, "The Diary of a Nobody," spawned a great many television series in Britain that looked satirically but lovingly at middle-class strivers like its protagonist, Mr. Pooter: hardworking underdogs trying to keep up with the bills, navigate complicated social codes in a time of cultural change, and deal with their young adults. [...]
Friendship with Christ will only become perfect when we reach heaven where we will see him face to face. This life is a search for the face of God, since “now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am [...]
Subjective silence itself is not emptiness. It is attention and receptivity. It is also a light, for the soul is ordered to objective silence, to great mysteries in which we participate. “And as we talked and panted for [eternal wisdom], we touched just the edge of it by the utmost leap of our hearts; then, [...]
The year 1989 may well be seen by future historians as one of those rare pivotal years of this past millennium—like 1066, 1492, 1793, and 1914—that profoundly altered the direction of Western Civilization. It is, of course, still too early to say for certain that we as a society set ourselves on a dangerous collision [...]
In the decades and centuries following his death, the pieces of the puzzle connecting Shakespeare to the Catholic faith were lost, or were forgotten or set aside. But there is little doubt that Shakespeare’s contemporaries heard the words spoken from the stage with the eyes that saw what he was saying. If we look back [...]
As Christians, our remembrance does not chain us to dead memories, but has a vivifying quality that springs forth into the Christian life. November is a month for remembering. The dying leaves and dying light of this penultimate month invite our thoughts to turn to earlier, warmer days. As the air grows colder, we gather [...]