The Clorox splashed around and sanitized the black bucket. I watched with a lump in my throat; that meant they didn't make it. My dad had taken care of it by dumping the contents of the bucket into the gulley. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, there were four tiny, breathing kittens huddled together in that … Continue reading Inordinate Compassion for Animals as a Cure for the Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Literary Mind
On Psyche’s Impossible Tasks and the Little Way of Wooing God
Psyche at the Throne of Aphrodite, Edward Hale, 1883 Probably the greatest of the Greek myths has to be the story of Psyche and Eros. No matter how many times I recall this tale, I am always drawn into the details of the story, feeling deeply for every joy and sorrow of Psyche. I feel … Continue reading On Psyche’s Impossible Tasks and the Little Way of Wooing God
Let’s Give Sense-Perception its Due: When Dialogue Might be Unnecessary or Harmful
Any graduate of Wyoming Catholic College is familiar with the scene from Augustine's Confessions in which he and his mother Monica converse "in the presence of Truth, which You [Christ] are, what the eternal life of the saints could be like, which eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the … Continue reading Let’s Give Sense-Perception its Due: When Dialogue Might be Unnecessary or Harmful
Kicked out of the Alehouse: What Kristin Lavransdatter Has to Say About Love
A colleague of mine, known to our eight (give or take) faithful readers as Alasdair Slackintyre, recently remarked on the tonal quality of our [his and my] blog posts. "We aren't trying to be properly academic," intuit, "[We're] not properly planning out essays, not putting in good conclusions, not putting in good thesis statements." Well, … Continue reading Kicked out of the Alehouse: What Kristin Lavransdatter Has to Say About Love
A Man For Our Season
In the preface to his play, A Man for All Seasons, Robert Bolt explains his motivation for choosing Thomas More as his hero. He describes an inability in the people of his time to answer the question of what and who they are. The individual is dissatisfied with defining himself as a Man because he … Continue reading A Man For Our Season
The Role of a Doctor as Explored by Solzhenitsyn in The Cancer Ward
Dr. Anthony Fauci has become a household name in the past year. Currently Chief Medical Advisor to the president, he's served as the president of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He has been among the leaders of governmental responses to several crises such as the ebola epidemic, SARS, HIV/AIDS, swine … Continue reading The Role of a Doctor as Explored by Solzhenitsyn in The Cancer Ward
Edgar Allan Poe
A poem written for my student right before they read "The Cask of Amontillado"
C. S. Lewis on Conscience, Reason, and Pacifism
In the midst of the chaos that has erupted in many cities across the U.S., in the midst of the burning of homes, and destruction of businesses, and ruination of lives, and needless violence, many of us are asking, “What do we do now?” Do we pursue the famed Benedict Option and retreat from society, … Continue reading C. S. Lewis on Conscience, Reason, and Pacifism
We Wept for Thee: An Interstellar Journey
"The winters of Vega IX are stormy and wet, and the rumbling sky promised its yield to its sprawling central city." The first installment of a science-fiction work of as-of-yet unknown total length.
A Closer Look at Cain’s Curse with John Steinbeck
I recently finished reading John Steinbeck’s great novel, East of Eden, in which he illustrates the age old struggle of fallen man to overcome sin and evil. Throughout the story, he alludes strongly to the well-known Genesis account of Cain and Abel, from which he obtains the title of his book. It would not be … Continue reading A Closer Look at Cain’s Curse with John Steinbeck
Lander's Forge 