Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 415

I bet I can make you cry

You may be all macho, sophisticated, cynical, and Stoic, but I have found a sequence of words that I predict will cause liquid to well up in your eyes. It’s a dog story, from that Michael Dirda review of  Mr. and Mrs. Dog by Donald McCaig that we posted about earlier.  Take the challenge, if [...]

Marriage as capstone rather than cornerstone

Betsy VanDenBerghe on a conceptual shift in the way young adults are viewing marriage: The National Marriage Project’s recent report “Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America” examines the alarming tendency to delay marriage among our country’s twentysomethings, who “have now helped to push the baby carriage well in front of [...]

Comic genius dies

Comedian Jonathan Winters died.  When I was a kid and heard he was appearing on the Tonight Show, back in the Jack Parr and then Johnny Carson days, I would stay up late to watch him. The schtick was to hand him an object–a stick, a rope, a mop–whereupon he would improvise comic riffs that [...]

Explosions at the Boston Marathon

It looks like a terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon, killing two and injuring 100.  A Saudi national has been arrested. Two huge explosions rocked the Boston Marathon finish line at Copley Square just before 3 p.m. today, killing two and causing scores of casualties, including several traumatic amputations on streets crowded with runners, spectators [...]

Being children of God

Last Sunday, Easter 3, our pastor preached on the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to His disciples by the shore of the lake, as recorded in John 21:1-19.  Rev. Douthwaite showed how our being “children” of God is an image of our status in the Gospel, referring not to what we do but to what [...]

Maria Tallchief

Maria Tallchief died. perhaps the best-known American dancer in the field of ballet.  I confess to not following that particular art-form, though I’ve seen a few ballets and was quite impressed with them.  I want to honor Maria Tallchief here because she was a fellow Northern Oklahoman, born in Fairfax in the Osage Nation.  I [...]

Lars Walker’s new Viking novel: free

Lars Walker, who frequents this blog, is a notable novelist who is also a  Christian, yea  Lutheran,  a master of  historical fantasy.  His fiction is generally wildly entertaining, while also being thought-provoking and spiritually edifying.  He has a new book out, a sequel to his wonderful Viking saga West Oversea.  The new book is entitled [...]

“Everything in our hearts and minds should be fixed”

As you have probably heard, Rick Warren’s 27-year-old son committed suicide.  That’s about the saddest thing I can imagine, both that someone would take his own life and that those who love him would have to go through that sorrow.  I pray for the Warrens and for others who have gone through this.  But that’s [...]

Media finally covering abortionist’s murder trial

In Philadelphia, the abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell is on trial for capital murder, having killed a patient through his ineptitude and babies born alive through his cruelty.  The major media has up-to-now pretty much ignored this trial, but is now giving it some attention, thanks in part to a twitter campaign started by Lutheran journalist [...]

Why we don’t have to worry about North Korea

A new strategy for national defense:  hope the enemy’s weapons don’t work. The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that North Korea “has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles; however, the reliability will be low.” From Pentagon: North Korea likely has nuclear warhead for its ballistic missiles – The Washington Post: North Korea probably [...]