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John Cuddeback

Articles by John Cuddeback

Why Everyone Should Plant Seeds This Week

“Of the art of acquisition [of food] then there is one kind which by nature is a part of the management of a household, in so far as the art…

A Sweet Gift from Heaven

“The heavenly gift of honey...” Virgil, The Georgics Thus Virgil opens his final book of The Georgics. Perhaps these words rolled off his pen with hardly a thought; or maybe…

The Challenge of Working Fathers

Much has been written about mothers leaving home to enter the workforce. Little attention is given to the prior exodus of fathers from the home: a situation that long ago…

Working, For a Living

“The gods keep livelihood hidden from men. Otherwise a day’s labor could bring man enough to last a whole year with no more work.” Hesiod, Works and Days In both biblical…

Summer Reading is for Everyone

“Then shall we carelessly allow the children to hear any old stories…?” Plato, Republic Summer is a time for stories. There is a great tradition of taking stories seriously, even,…

Virgil and the Pope on Empty Fields

“For right and wrong change places; everywhere So many wars, so many shapes of crime Confront us; no honor attends the plow, The fields, bereft of tillers, are all unkempt…”…

Knowing the Place We Call Home

“He who intends to practice economy aright ought to be fully acquainted with the places in which his labor lies…” Aristotle, Economics Aristotle often provides us with simple, practical insights.…

One Faithful Bee

“Some have affirmed that bees possess a share Of the divine mind and drink ethereal draughts; For God, they say, pervades the whole of creation."          …

For the Sake of the Children

“… but the soul of the hearer must be prepared by good habits to rejoice in the good and hate the evil, just as the soil must be well tilled…

Silence of the Forest

“The treasures within the earth were long hidden, and trees and forests were thought of as her ultimate gift to mankind. … Even images of shining gold and ivory are…

Daddy, Where Do Seeds Come From?

Perhaps as our teachers sometimes tell us, there is no such thing as a bad question. That doesn’t mean that some questions aren’t better than others. It was some years…

Our Lawns, Our Eden

Last spring I posted a piece on dandelions, after I had been struck by the preponderance of death-dealing chemicals in the ‘lawn and garden' section at the local big box store.…

Living Pleasantly from the Land

“In the first place, thanks to those who work it, the land bears not only the means for people to live, but also bears the means for them to live…

The Death of a Tree

I have never thought much about the death of trees. Until today. I have thought about the death of farm animals, since I kill with my own hands the pigs…

Picture-Books in Winter

“Water now is turned to stone Nurse and I can walk upon; Still we find the flowing brooks In the picture storybooks. … How am I to sing your praise,…

Clean Eyes

“Again, one time Sophocles, who was Pericles’ fellow-commissioner in the generalship, was going on board with him, and praised the beauty of a youth they met with on the way…

Remembering Death

"You are dust, and to dust you will return." Genesis Some images are striking reminders of death. There are few like seeing your name etched on a gravestone. In my case it…

The Slavery of Women, and Men

“But among barbarians no distinction is made between women and slaves…” Aristotle, Politics Barbarians can be accused of a number of things, but presumably they cannot be accused of considering…

Parents Ruling by Love and Age

“For the begetter is the ruler by reason of love and age…” Aristotle, Politics Perhaps we do not normally think of parents as rulers. Aristotle did. He seems to think…

Acquainted with Grief

"He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Handel's Messiah, Air from Part II, quoting Isaiah 53 Being acquainted with grief does not…

Fathers and Sons

Hunting season is a time for fathers and sons. I have posted a reflection at The Catholic Gentleman on the need our sons have for more time with us their…

Grateful to be a Teacher

“It’s no easy task—indeed it’s very difficult—to realize that in every soul there is an instrument that is purified and rekindled by such subjects [liberal studies] when it has been…

A Different Approach to Money in the Household

“So if one doesn’t know how to make use of it, Critobulus, then money must be kept at such a distance that it isn’t even included among one’s assets.” Socrates,…

A Good Wife

“Nothing is better for man than a good wife...” Hesiod, Works and Days One might wonder whether that is an overstatement. It was once suggested to me that Thanksgiving is…