Whenever times are uncertain--when the atmosphere is thick with lies and propaganda--it's natural to look for certainty. We want truth, clarity and honesty. This makes us fall for conspiracy theories. A conspiracy theory offers us a grid that helps us understand what is going on. It gives us a structure and belief system into which everything [...]
Addicted as I am to alliteration, the title of Karl Keating's new book was an attraction, but more attractive was the prospect of reading about his hike along the Cammino di San Benedetto--one of the long distance footpaths in Europe. This path--starting in Norcia, the birthplace of St Benedict and ending at the great monastery of [...]
There is a silly notion that a prophet is someone, like Madame Sosostris-the famous clairvoyant, who has supernatural powers to foretell the future. This has come down to us, no doubt, from generations of Biblical teachers who showed how the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus. This is a superstitious understanding of prophecy.While it is [...]
I will tell you a vision I once had. I hesitate to call it a vision because it makes me sound like some sort of Marian mystic. Probably better to call it a "mental image" or a "dream image". Anyway, it came to me in that in between state when I was not sure if I [...]
There is a rush of books out at the moment decrying the decadence and disintegration of our modern Western culture. Ross Douthat's The Decadent Society is an objective look at the root causes and types of decadence and where it might be leading. Carl Trueman's The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self examines the philosophical [...]
I was fascinated to read this article about the study of fossilized footprints in New Mexico's White Sands National Park. A small woman—or perhaps an adolescent boy—walks quickly across a landscape where giant beasts roam. The person holds a toddler on their hip, and their feet slip in the mud as they hurry along for nearly [...]
I was a curate (parochial vicar) in the Church of England in the late 80s when an older priest introduced me to the Isle of Wight. The island is a beautiful, little known corner of England that is delightfully behind the times. Opposite the port of Portsmouth, just off the Southern coast of the English mainland, [...]
The divisions in America reached a climax this week, and they are not going to go away. Donald Trump has now said he will assure a peaceful transition of power, but what next? He's also said, "This is just the beginning." Is this more grandstanding and bragging from the braggart in chief or is he planning [...]
Locked, as he was, in the post war struggle with communism, Fulton Sheen's prophecies about the end time are somewhat dated, but his underlying vision is strong and sobering. In his Communism and the Conscience of the West he discusses the Antichrist: The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise he would have no followers. He will [...]
I love putting together stuff that nobody thought of putting together before, so here's the link between Indy and the Magi: You know the backdrop for the final scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the famous "Treasury" at the historic site of the ancient city of Petra. It's pictured here. Well, the Treasury is not [...]