Recently, I concluded my first proper reading of G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. Exploring the whole of Chesterton’s thinking and argument, I was repeatedly struck by how much Chesterton detests modernity. Modernity for Chesterton is obstinate, an oddity that isolates itself from the rest of history, contradictory, and empty. As I watched him tear down modernity, I […]
“The charm of power is modesty,” insists Marmee to Amy, the youngest of the four March daughters in Little Women. After being harshly corrected at school for parading her pickled limes before the other girls with pomp, the teacher, Mr. Davis, publicly punishes Amy and rebukes the class. Amy, embarrassed, cries profusely, and a long
When I first encountered this proverbial phrase, I was heavily inclined to react against it. The obvious nature of a classroom, I thought, does not support this proverb, if it is one. However, serious consideration began to offer more and more insight into the classroom and the extremely important role of the teacher in relation
Exploring a Proverb: The Teacher is the Curriculum Read More »
Classical schools do not market themselves as democracies. They do not structure their authority or decision-making practices on explicitly democratic ideals. In the interview process, no one brings up voting or citizenship. Why, then, bring up democracy and its relationship to classical schools? Americans are a deeply democratic people. The democracy that is infused into
December 26th is the gloomiest day of the year for most Americans. The rancor of anticipation and delight slides into the mud the day after Christmas. Everyone ventures out to return their unwanted gifts. At stores, lines lead out the door. Parking lots are packed. A few ambitious souls begin to take down their Christmas
Christmas without Advent, like Easter without Lent, paints the Church year in chiaroscuro.1 Penitential, lean seasons such as Advent are gifts to the Church. Penitential seasons of heavy fasting, prayer, silence, and charity are a gift to Christians because they expose sin and provide the opportunity to grow in virtue and holiness. They keep the
In early winter 1620, 102 English pilgrims fleeing religious persecution landed on the shores of North America in modern day Massachusetts. The first year proved grievous and tumultuous for the newly established Plymouth Colony. Nearly half of the settlers died during the winter of 1620-1621, and those who survived decided to set aside a day
To My Students, Because I love you, I tell you: You are going to die. Do not ignore this fact; it is good for you to know and remember. Indeed, it is so important that Moses asked God to teach him to remember his own death: “Teach me to number my days.” It is never
As a high school student, I greatly feared becoming an adult. The dour prospect of being tied to a desk with only fluorescent lights and a dim window looking out on other buildings genuinely scared me. Ironically, teachers like me, who once wanted to avoid desk jobs, sometimes find themselves in a job that feels
In John chapter five, Jesus asks one of the most remarkable questions in all the gospels: Do you want to be healed? A paralyzed man, who had been so for thirty-eight years, was by the pool of Bethesda near the sheep gate in Jerusalem waiting for the pool to be stirred by an angel so
