Integrity & Beauty: A Wandering Review of A Sand County Almanac
Integrity & Beauty A Wandering Review of A Sand County Almanac Dr. Jeff Gardner In the early twentieth century, the United States underwent a profound transformation. Millions of people migrated out of the countryside and packed themselves into cities. By the early 1920s, nearly eleven million people had left rural America and were fighting for […]
Change & Challenge: A Review of Wendell Berry’s How it Went it Went
Change & Challenge A Wandering Review of Wendell Berry’s How it Went Dr. Ryan Hanning I was first introduced to Andy Catlett, the precocious young boy who grew up and narrated the life and times of Port William, shortly after having children. At the time, I remember thinking that I would like to have a […]
Strike Anywhere: A Wandering Review of Matches
Strike Anywhere A Wandering Review of Matches Mr. Samuel Butterofen John Wayne stands a’swaggerin’ at the omega point of human progress each time he effortlessly lights a match by striking it wherever he pleases. What paleolithic Frenchman, laboring over his fire in some dark, Périgordian cave, did not ache in his Neanderthal dreams to apply […]
Good for What Ails You: A Wandering Review of Bourbon Whiskey
Good for What Ails You A Wandering Review of Bourbon Whiskey Dr. Ryan Hanning “Bourbon is good medicine!” Or so claimed the lobbyist looking to leave a loophole in the 1919 Prohibition Act that banned all alcohol except that which was used for religious sacraments and those medicinal distillates prescribed by doctors. While the slogan […]
It’s the Oikonomia, Stupid: A Review of Durable Trades
It’s the Oikonomia, Stupid —A Wandering Review of— Durable Trades Dr. Ryan Hanning There are certain things that we know are true. They are simply intuited by reasonable people and rarely need explanation. Lately, however, it feels as though this category of what we can call “obvious truths” is shrinking. Defending long-held positions is becoming […]
The Long Advent of 1940 & the Scandal of the Incarnation
The Long Advent of 1940 and the Scandal of the Incarnation A Wandering Review of Bariona Dr. Ryan Hanning During the arduous Advent of 1940, a motley crew of French and Belgian intelligentsia along with a few Jesuit priests prepared a Nativity play for their fellow captives and their German captors at the POW camp […]
Understanding Suffering in Times
of Pandemic (or Anytime)
A Review of C.S. Lewis’ Classic The Problem of Pain “In the world you will have tribulation.” (John 16:33) It is an odd statement to come from a messiah who was prophesied to overturn the tribulation and suffering of the broken and fallen world. But to think that Jesus came to eradicate all suffering is […]
The Healing Power of Opera
Italy, Lockdown, and a Review of the Met Online Mr. Samuel Butterofen For those who lack the religious resources to give the Covid crisis any meaningful orientation, one of the few moments of spiritual significance in this absurd and ongoing drama was when tottering Italy joined in song before the world. The videos went viral […]