You probably have most of the menu planned for your epic Thanksgiving dinner this week. But if you’re staring at your sourdough starter over there in the corner on your countertop wondering what you might make with it besides bread, I have three great suggestions for you.
Read MoreKatie and Shannon continue their discussion about education. They work through some practical questions like how to use a curriculum and what it might look like to "master" a subject before moving on to deeper philosophical questions like what the purpose of education ought to be, what a teacher is, and what the relationship between home and school should be. Enjoy!
Read MoreIn this episode, Katie and Shannon begin a discussion about the nebulous topic "classical education." After attempting to distill a description of modern classical education, they move on to discuss their own educational background from learning at home from their parents, to their formal education at the elementary, secondary, and college level. They dive into their personal stories of how each of them came to develop a sense of what education ought to be while recognizing that they have so much more to learn. Enjoy!
Read MoreHappy Holy Week! As you read this, I hope you find yourself prayerfully preparing your heart and your mind for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery that the Church celebrates in full at the end of this week. Often we refer to the last three days of this week as “The Triduum.”
Read MoreIn this episode Katie and Shannon discuss how to face those times of inevitable discontentment in life. They each have their own experience to draw upon as well as a lot of great advice that they have accumulated from others over the years. They explore how the Scriptures address discontent and talk about both how to address discontent with prayer and patience and some practical things that can help break the melancholy and refocus the mind away from oneself during such times. Enjoy!
Read MoreThe celebration of the Annunciation of our Lord approaches quickly on March 25th and Good Friday follows soon after. Not long after that, my own child will be born. So Titian’s beautiful and heart-rending portrayals of the Annunciation and Christ’s suffering in his two works from 1557 and 1547 respectively immediately caught my attention during a recent perusal of artwork for the website…
Read MoreIn this episode Katie and Shannon discuss the difficult question of how to love one's enemies. They dive into distinctions and definitions about friends and enemies and try to make some sense of Jesus's command. Meanwhile, Shannon's little son, John, joins them briefly and they discuss a few commonplace quotes, too. Enjoy!
Read MoreWalking provides you with intimate knowledge of your own place and facilitates interaction with your own people. It is exactly these kinds of relationships that need to be formed or healed if we are to recover a common culture and attitude of civility toward our fellow Americans.
Read MoreSo, ultimately, what in the world does love have to do with education? A lot, actually. It has so much to do with education, in fact, that I think it’s the key link, the place we should be examining most closely. Simply put, we postmodern Americans have believed a great lie. We have believed that education would make our pocketbooks thicker but should do nothing to enrich our hearts.
Read MoreIn this episode, Shannon and Katie discuss the nature of the disunity that is so prevalent in our nation's society today. They talk about the possible results of that disunity and the plausibility of reunification efforts. They also discuss what each has been reading and learning about lately and share a few commonplace quotes. Enjoy!
Read MoreHello dear readers! As you may have noticed, Katie and Shannon have been a little absent from this space recently. We’ve both been busy! Here is a brief update from both of us on what we’ve been doing, where we’ve been, and what we’re excited to be working on next.
Read MoreJumping right into a conversation about how men can support women in childbirth, Shannon and Katie attempt to discuss how some of their ideas might be put into practice, wrapping up their discussion about true community…
Read MoreDenying oneself, especially in this physical way, is an essential practice of Christianity that we have largely lost. Lent begins today, and it is time for us to return to the spiritual discipline of fasting.
Read MoreThe Play’s the Thing is a podcast produced by the Circe Institute’s podcast network Close Reads. The rotating hosts dive into a Shakespeare play for a number of episodes. I recommend the five episodes they spend on Much Ado About Nothing. These episodes include all of the best characteristics of a favorite college course or lecture series, while also managing to entertain. And they are completely free.
Read MoreThe difference, though, between the birth of a child and nearly all other medical events, is that giving birth is a natural process that a woman’s body is built for. Unlike a disease, a broken bone, cancer, or a heart attack, becoming pregnant and giving birth is something every healthy woman’s body aims to achieve on a monthly basis. Entire organs and systems within her body exist to build and nurture new life. Pregnancy and childbirth aren’t maladies. Rather, these incredible experiences are the healthiest possible expression of a woman’s liveliness.
Read MoreShannon and Katie continue their conversation about community. After a slight digression down a theological path, they dive into a question of what must be at the center of true community. They also touch on the purpose of community and how community can be sustained even in the midst of disagreements. Enjoy!
Read MoreShannon and Katie begin a discussion about community. They examine the great interest that “community” as an idea has gathered in the last seventy or so years and what has sparked that interest. They discuss what makes a community, looking especially at the idea that a group of people must hold beliefs “in common” in order to maintain community. They touch briefly on the connection that agriculture and landownership have with community, and hope to continue the discussion soon! Enjoy.
Read MoreJ.D. Harding made a strong argument for general artistic education. A mind can only be fully developed once it has studied some form of art, even simple sketching. He goes on to argue that one cannot be fully alive to the influence of nature’s beauty without the medium of art, and claims that those who have not studied art see the beauty of creation only “through a glass darkly.”
Read MoreThe meal’s place in the life of a family and a community must be guarded as a sacred event.
Read MoreIn this Introduction to Classical Music, I present to you live recordings by world-famous musicians of five of history’s greatest classical composers.
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