Intelligent silence is the mother of prayer, freedom from bondage, custodian of zeal, a guard on our thoughts, a watch on our enemies — St. John Climacus

This is from the Wall St. Journal’s Best of the Web Today e-mail, offering some clear thinking about one of the uglier aspects of the Terri Schiavo case, and one in which those who argue to save her may be accused of merely being judgmental or lacking compassion*:
But why do those of us who aren’t […]

I didn’t plan on staying up this late, but the Congressional testimony and the vote on the bill that might save Terri Schiavo’s life was compelling watching. And the Republicans got the votes they needed, so it’s possible the feeding tube will be re-inserted before morning. Some thoughts:

I’m really very relieved that the Democrats’ vote […]

I’m taking a break from a DVD of a documentary series called “Byzantium: The Lost Empire” from The Learning Channel. I had to stop because it was too evocative, and after all the descriptions of the wonders of Constantinople I started to feel like whoever it is in Richard II who says, “For God’s […]

Terry Schiavo is on the first day of being starved to death. If no one intercedes, she will live about two weeks. Her parents don’t want that, nor the rest of her family, nor the governor, nor Congress, nor many other people like myself who had never heard of her six months ago but thought […]

According to an old expression, March is the month that comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb. It’s a very old expression, and unfortunately for those like myself that just like the imagery, it doesn’t appear to be true. When I settled in the Midwest, I had some fond illusions about […]

The world has a very different idea of fast food than we do during Lent. They’re talking quick, greasy and cheap. We’re talking meatless, lactose-free and mortifying — yum yum.

So what is fast food — the food appropriate for fasting — anyway?
Everyone can read out of their Orthodox 101 pamphlet: No meat, no dairy, no […]

Poor, poor Larry Summers. The guy would’ve had every reason to think he was on top of the world three months ago. Then — boom, kabam, BOOM! — he runs afoul of political correctness and now fellow faculty members at Harvard have expressed a vote of no confidence in their president. All of this brouhaha […]

The weather is turning nicer here in God’s country, which means two things:

farmers can start complaining and
the possiblity exists for Clementine and I to take the wonderful and elusive long walk

(If you thought you read #1 wrong you didn’t. The farmers complain when the weather is nice because it means more work […]

When a friend told me there was a series of mystery novels set in Emperor Justinian’s Constantinople, I was tickled pink. I like mystery novels and a series like the Brother Cadfael mysteries makes me think that the Byzantine Empire at its 6th century golden age would be a fascinating setting. When I heard the […]