“I’m preoccupied with discovering ways to help us, in our communities, catch and maintain sight of wholeness, health, holiness—that whole constellation of ancient, utterly crucial words that describe what we’re made to be, what human flourishing looks like.”
Archives for December 2023
Showing Up for Your Neighborhood
Do you know what song your neighbor would request?
Ideas in progress: Ivana Greco on American homemakers
In her book in progress, Ivana D. Greco shows how homemakers played a central role in the founding and shaping of America, and in holding both the country and our communities together.
Waiting
The story of one school shooting, measured in moments
Ideas in progress: Paul Putz on Christian Athletes
In this guest interview, a re-run from earlier in 2023, historian Paul Putz discusses his forthcoming book on Christianity and sports.
Seeing Mrs. Riddle
Can looking with love change how we see others . . . and ourselves?
Our New Ellis Islands
When an immigrant becomes a neighbor, a truer story comes into view—and a truer hope
Professor Pope
Joseph Ratzinger, always a scholar, transcended academe
Merry Christmas!
Notice that Linus drops the security blanket when he says “fear not.”
Album of the day
See Eric Miller’s reflection on this album here.
“Our founding fathers understood the absolute necessity for this nation to elect moral and upright statesmen to lead the people.”
That was Jerry Falwell Sr. on January 8, 1999 in the midst of the Bill Clinton impeachment trial. Here is the quote in context: “Our founding fathers understood the absolute necessity for this nation to elect moral and upright statesmen […]
A writer for The Atlantic discovers pizza
Over at The Atlantic, Saahil Desai calls our attention to Ora Dodd’s 1949 piece on pizza. Here is a taste of Dodd’s essay: The waiter moves aside the glasses of red wine, and sets before you a king-sized open pie. […]
Why good writing matters
Artificial intelligence cannot replace the act of writing. Here is a taste of Frank Bruni’s column at The New York Times: When my friend Molly Worthen, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a […]
51.4% of books sell between 12 and 999 units
As Tajja Isen notes in her piece at The Walrus, these numbers are not “especially encouraging.” Here is a taste of her piece, “How Do You Even Sell a Book Anymore?“: All of which highlights the two faces of the […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Arena blog:
Remembering December
Note by note, George Winston kept “holy” and “holiday” together
Maybe the Hallmark Channel is right
There is much glory in the small things, and there is abundant joy in the present. Do you see it?
2023: Most popular reads of the year at The Arena blog
In the spirit of end-of-year roundups, here are the most popular three posts of the year from each of the Arena’s regular contributors.
“Unheard of in American history”
Today at La Presse, the French-Canadian online newspaper based in Montreal, is running a short interview I did with them about the Colorado Supreme Court decision that takes Donald Trump off the ballot in that state. Here is an English […]
Mike Godwin gives us permission to compare Trump to Hitler
The originator of “Godwin’s Law” weighs in! Here is Mike Godwin’s piece at The Washington Post: My very minor status as an authority on Adolf Hitler comparisons stems from having coined “Godwin’s Law” about three decades ago. I originally framed this “law” […]