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johnb

Articles by johnb

The Full Life of Empty Rural Spain

Though we may choose to live out our lives differently upon the land, there remain in both places people who still care for and respect land and community. I have…

Life, Death, and Branding Day

“The Good Life, According to Gen Z.” Maya Sulkin talks with several Gen Zers who, in good Porcher fashion, left the big-city corporate rat race to move back home: “In…

Seeking the Sacred: Douthat’s Case for Religious Tradition in an Age of Uncertainty

We are pilgrims in this world. We must be content to wonder as we wander. Douthat is asking his readers to cast their nets into the deep.

Bobwhite

Every year that we farm in the old ways, more of nature returns, despite the mistakes we make. Each return teaches hope.

What is a Miracle Anyway?

My miracles are many, too many to count or explain. Maybe yours are too.

Teaching Like a Prize Fighter

To throw pedagogical punches is not to berate students; it’s to engage them in the ring. Most of them just need a nudge, a little jab that’s meant to be…

Land, Cheating, and Work

“How Major League Baseball Lost its Soul.” Bill Kauffman may be biased, but at least he’s honest: “I highly recommend Homestand, Will Bardenwerper’s new book contrasting the community-enhancing qualities of…

The Family Barber

A person cannot multitask while performing it; instead, all else disappears, and only the person for whom one is caring in this physical way remains the focus for several minutes

Excelsior

My mom knew that she could not transfer the entire corpus of Western thought to us because she didn’t have it. But she did have love

Keeping A Culture: A Review of Thoroughness and Charm

Classroom culture may develop accidentally, but the truth is that a neutral classroom does not exist. Although her apologia is intended for classical Christian educators, Gerth speaks to all teachers

1.5 Speed to Nowhere

Over the decades, I suppose I learned a lot from podcasts; plenty of facts and all the “sides” to stories. Very little of those things seem to matter to me…
May 6, 2025

Of a Woodstove

I’ve heated with wood for a winter, and I am pleased to do so, but it’s backbreaking labor to warm this way for a lifetime

Cancer Cures, Manatees, and Enology

“We are Letting Schools Poison our Children.” Hadley Freeman has some harsh (but accurate) critiques of ed tech: “You don’t need to be Mr Gradgrind to be repulsed by this…

On Being Indifferent

The politics of Jesus are “brutally modest.” “Jesus’ life seems to have been mostly one of local, familial labor and relations, carried out in the compass of a small town…
May 3, 2025

Three Trees Once Grew

Although my vision, and my neck, and my sense of balance, and certainly my sense of hope, were all impaired, I could still prune. And as I pruned, I reflected…

Crime and Redemption

Those who had previously greeted me with smiles and handshakes find ways to hint through word and deed that I am no longer one of them ...

Pollution and Sin: An Earth Month Reflection

As I picked up litter, I had ample time to reflect upon the stunning parallels between human pollution and sin.

Handshakes, Extinction, and Chess

“The Intellectual Virtues of the Small Magazine.” Jeff Reimer brilliantly narrates the joys of an intellectual life and the role that small magazines can play in foster this: ‘Now remember…

Taking a Turn Taking it on the Chin

But the attacks on higher education are also part of a broader trend, which devalues work itself, especially work motivated by love
April 26, 2025

Local Porch in NOVA: The Tech Exit with Clare Morell

Join Ben Christenson and others for a discussion with Clare Morell.
April 25, 2025

What’s in a Name?

We all have the power to name ourselves—collectively, not individually
April 25, 2025

Can Good Deeds Become Like Murmurations?

The lessons of murmuration are clear. There is power and safety in community
Alice Evans
April 23, 2025

A Phone that Does not Ring

Jess never missed calling me today, even when I was half a world away. This marks the eleventh year that my phone will not ring.

Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics

Laurie Johnson is teaching an introduction to Aristotle's virtue ethics for the Maurin Academy this summer. The schedule and details are here: We need a solid understanding of ethics now…
Jeffrey Bilbro
April 21, 2025