-
Hilaire Belloc and The Theology of Walking
Modern man has forgotten the art of walking. I do not mean that literally, of course. We still walk from the parking lot to the office, from the house to the mailbox, and from one errand to the next. Yet walking, in the older and richer sense of the word, has largely disappeared from…
-
John Henry Newman: Prophet of Catholic Renewal
Few men can be said to have shaped the course of a civilization as profoundly as Cardinal Newman. Fewer still have done so not through political power, military conquest, or institutional authority, but through the witness of a conscience relentlessly devoted to the pursuit of truth. From his years as a scholar and fellow…
-
Pipes and Cigars as an Icon of Leisure
Leisure is one of the most misunderstood words in the modern vocabulary, particularly in the Protestant Anglosphere. To many people, leisure means entertainment, relaxation, or simply time spent away from work. Yet the classical and Christian tradition understood leisure as something far richer. Leisure is not idleness. It is not laziness. It is not…
-
In Defense of an Ordinary Life
Too often today, the average young adult is warned, even discouraged from “settling down too early,” “living an ordinary life,” or “getting stuck with kids” in their prime. I was one of them. I vividly recall my great aunt’s shock when I told her that I had proposed to my beloved at only twenty-one…