C. S. Lewis said, “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty.” The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald is a book worth reading. It is worthy of the primary student as an exemplary fairy tale […]
“I need help,” she said. “I can no longer change clothes in my bedroom.” Pausing my work, I promised our daughter, Michelle, that I’d help clean her overcrowded room. I knew the usual suspects were partly to blame: Shoes needed to be returned to her closet, papers needed to be sorted, and a good sweeping […]
“How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?” This charming line from the song “Maria” in The Sound of Music reminds us that music cannot be held in the palm of one’s hand or measured by physical parameters. Like a moonbeam, music’s substance is intangible. Music springs to life from sound waves emanating from […]
I have always loved to read. I have always loved the sense of entering a completely new world, yet finding points of contact with my own. I have always felt the relentless pull of whatever might be on the next page of a book. I have often lived through my imagination. And I have always […]
We didn’t intend for it to happen; it just did. It actually began on our honeymoon, when we popped into quiet, out-of-the-way bookstores in Paris between visits to more traditional tourist spots like the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. It continued during the couple of years we lived in Europe, where we scoured used bookstores in […]
On November 3, 2020, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, while most of the nation nervously watched the election returns, in Concord, NC, I and a group of my closest friends were eagerly putting the final touches on a wooden countertop meant to cover up the paint-splattered remnants of a decades-old checkout counter. Roughly […]
Arguably, the greatest student-teacher relationship in ancient history was that of Alexander the Great and Aristotle. Although Alexander’s genius contributed enormously to his success, there is no doubt that Aristotle’s tutelage also served to shape his famous student. In his book, The Life of Alexander the Great, Plutarch recounts how Alexander treasured his copy of […]
The expression “dark ages” refers to the period of time after the fall of Rome in the fourth century A.D. until the resurgence of learning in Western Europe that started in about the eighth century. We call it “dark” because the light of learning that had been ignited by the Greeks and carried on by […]
At sixteen, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus stood overlooking the people of Rome. People cheered below as he stepped out on the balcony and he saw the excitement on their faces. He beamed out at his subjects, full of youthful energy and confident that he would bring prosperity to Rome. Right beside him, stood Agrippina […]
On March 17th of the year 180 A.D., the Pax Romana came to an end. During this 200 year period, Rome reached the apotheosis of its power and glory-a true golden age of human flourishing accompanied by unparalleled peace and tranquility in the Empire. This period began with the ascension of Caesar Augustus and […]