Our recent Harvest Festival was a sorely needed affair: Americans are increasingly losing touch with “the land”—a synonym for agriculture and the source of their “daily bread.” Indeed, few of us these days seem to appreciate the role God’s grace plays in putting food on our tables. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration . . . → Read More: A case of Animal rights versus Animal Crackers
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 Experience teaches us that human beings have an infinite capacity for self-deception. This leads us to put our trust in the most untrustworthy ideas, both great and small. I first came to this realization when I was quite a small boy—not, I hasten to add, that I was then, or am now, entirely immune to . . . → Read More: Self-deception is the cause of grotesque delusions Moving house is a bittersweet experience—especially if you’ve lived in the place for 30 years or more. Downsizing is painful. It means necessarily parting with things that have been part of your life for 40 or 50 years—some of which you can cheerfully bid adieu; others that evoke sentimental memories. My mother had no problem . . . → Read More: A vital lesson Ancient Rome offers America As a student of German history, the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, evoked disquieting images of the vicious street battles between the Communists and the Nazis during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Back then, however, both Communists and National Socialists were well versed in the ideologies for which they were fighting. In Charlottesville and . . . → Read More: Shades of 1930s Weimar in Charlottesville and Berkeley The funny thing about sin is it has an odd way masquerading as virtue. In other words, frequently the personal qualities we regard as particularly virtuous turn out, in practice, to be seriously sinful. For instance, a clergyman of my acquaintance was fond of declaring that he made a point of “speaking his mind.” And . . . → Read More: Sin that masquerades as virtue B-o-r-r-r-r-r-i-n-g! It’s amazing the frequency with which kids utter the word “boring” these days. When I was a child, my mother took such complaints as an invitation to have me mow the lawn, weed her yard, or—horrors!—tidy my room. “If you’re bored, Guy Hawtin,” she would say, “I’ve got just the cure for you.” There . . . → Read More: A cure for teenage boredom With our nation engaged in the most bitterly partisan political debate in living memory, Christians often find themselves in a quandary over how they should be praying and for whom. Increasingly, America’s churches are praying for the “office of the president” rather than following long–established custom and praying for him by name. Refusing to name . . . → Read More: Don’t begrudge prayers for your political adversaries Most people today have only the sketchiest notions of where their food comes from and how it is produced. Even adults often fail to associate the shrink-wrapped packet of hamburger in the supermarket meat section with something that eats grass and goes “moo.” Thus modern-minded clergymen are wont to shake their heads sagely and observe . . . → Read More: An odor of sanctity Life would have been bliss when I was a kid if Mother had subscribed to the now fashionable notion that making another person feel “guilty” is the greatest crime a human being can commit. But mother belonged to what she called “The Pull Yourself Together School of Psychiatry.” It espoused a straight and uncomplicated philosophy: . . . → Read More: Good healthy guilt vs snivelling self pity The media has recently gleefully reported a shocking lack of patriotism among members of America’s Millennial generation. Actually, the Millennials’ lack of patriotism should in no way come as a shock. Indeed, it is entirely surprising any of them show any degree of patriotism. Blame for the Millennials’ lack of patriotism lies squarely at the . . . → Read More: Reflections on the meaning of the Fourth of July |
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