Monastic Stability: In One Place with God and Others
Some time ago I was asked if I would be willing to participate in a forum on localism. I hesitated. I did not even...
Praying in the Streets: Ritual as an Urban Design Problem
"he city as World icon is being destroyed, not by being secularized (it was always secular at base with some sacral potencies shooting through...
Loving—But Not Believing In—Baseball
Many of Forbes’s best insights stem from this notion—baseball helps us navigate life, because much of life is also boring. It’s a game about waiting, about disappointment and failure, about reckless hope for a late rally or a triple-play to turn the tide.
Learning to Die in the Garden
I’m prone to say that the gardening year resembles nothing so much as a succession of heartbreaks, and while it’s possible that this sentiment...
The Right Stuff
Precisely because it is limitless, space is the best place to test the limits of our courage and abilities.
Moon Missions and the Southern Tradition
"…this city of Houston, this State of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and...
Rethinking the Good City: Vallejo’s Bold Vision
What Americans Want in Cities
What makes a good city? I’ve been thinking a lot about this. What makes for a city people are happy...
I Am Not a Luddite
In my efforts to point people to various methodologies of eco-agriculture I often encounter those who dispute these approaches. One of the frequent refrains...
The Price of Place: Oeconomia over Chrematistike
The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever.--Edmund Burke, Reflections...
Democracy Dies in Delegation
For our elites, democratic values and grand political projects go hand in hand. Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg discussed the importance of democracy in adjudicating...