By Brother Benedict, Monastic Contributor There are writers whose words comfort, and there are those whose words wound—and thank God for the latter, else we would never be healed. Flannery O’Connor belongs to that rare and sanctified second group. She is not easy to read. She is not nice. ButContinue Reading
By Miss Beatrice Wendell, Retired Governess of 42 Years Once upon a Tuesday in the world outside, a mother—a real one, not the digital kind—put a stop to whining with nothing more than a jar, a label, and a spine of steel. I doff my bonnet to her. The WhineContinue Reading
By The Warden of Common Sense The women went to space—and instead of staring into the vast, silent mystery that swallows every pronoun, they stared back at themselves. Or at least, that is how the moment was framed: not as an extraordinary achievement of courage and science, but as anContinue Reading
By Theophilus Gant, Editorialist Emeritus There are few things more suspicious than the quiet hum of peace. Oh yes, I know what the scrolls say — “Peace is the fruit of wisdom,” and “Make not war where one may make bread,” and other such well-meaning rhubarberies. But I’ve lived throughContinue Reading
By Henry Grant I took a walk this morning — a rare and noble act, I might add, for a man whose knees sound like poorly tuned zithers — and what should I find upon the first corner but a new sign. And not just any sign, mind you. ThisContinue Reading
By Theophilus Gant, Editorialist Emeritus There was a time — not so long ago, mind you — when queuing was a silent ballet of civility. One stood, one waited, one moved forward when moved upon. That was the way of things. One did not question the queue. One respected it,Continue Reading
By Theophilus Gant There is an old saying in Eyehasseen: “If a cart has seven drivers, the ox starves.” And yet I look at our current structure of governance and count not seven, but seventy — each holding a whip, a scroll, or a wildly inaccurate map. When was theContinue Reading
By Theophilus Gant No one wants to use the word. Least of all the Ministry of Economic Prognostication, which recently described the current downturn as a “moderate dip in consumer buoyancy.” But the signs are clear to anyone with ears, eyes, or a basket that no longer fills for fewerContinue Reading
By Theophilus Gant Theft. Vandalism. Late-night disturbances involving shouting and (on at least one occasion) an entire wheel of brie thrown in protest. The Inner Village — once a proud district of commerce and character — now finds itself plagued by a slow rot of lawlessness. Petty crime may notContinue Reading
By Theophilus Gant Every year, with the regularity of mudslides in March, the Ministry of Resource Allocation releases its annual budget scroll. It is thick. It is unreadable. It is tied with the same ribbon they used to close down the poetry school. And once again, it appears the KingdomContinue Reading