Permanent Things

Looking for an online class about the Middle Ages?

2014-04-09T15:37:00.003-05:00

Registration is now open at the Harvey Center for Families Learning.

I'm excited to announce that I will be teaching Great Books II: Christendom in the 2014-2015 school year. Below is the course description and a link to register. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'd like to keep the class small and intimate, but I do have a few slots still open.

Great Books II: Christendom (Fall 2014)

What happens when people try to apply the truth of the Gospel to every area of life? Schools are founded; technology, science, and medicine advance; art, literature, and music flourish; the greatest architecture the world has ever seen is crafted, new economic systems are introduced, political liberty is born. In short, the Gospel turned a bunch of brutal, murderous barbarians into the foundation of the greatest civilization mankind has known, Christendom.

In this class, we will discover why the era referred to by secular historians as the Dark Ages is in reality a time where the light of the Gospel shown bright, and Truth, Beauty, and Goodness flourished. But as is the case with any endeavor of sinful man, Christendom is a time of great successes and great failures. We’ll examine them all.

Today we face many of the same cultural challenges that the early Church faced. But we can be encouraged that history teaches us that not only does the Gospel change hearts, it changes the whole world!

NOTE: This class is open to any high school student. Great Books I is not a prerequisite.

Course Requirements:

Students will be graded on reading, class discussion, essay tests, (midterm and final), 4 short book reviews, and two 1200-word analytical essays.

This course will be the equivalent of one high school history credit and one half credit of a liberal arts elective.

Texts (specific editions TBA):

Beowulf

The Divine Comedy: Inferno

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Canterbury Tales (selections)

The Fairie Queen: Book One

Taming of the Shrew

Macbeth

History Texts: TBA

Note: My desire is for students to read closely and think deeply; therefore I prefer to keep the reading list intentionally on the lighter side.

Class Meeting: Monday/Thursday 1:30 - 3:00 EST

Register here.

Registration Now Open

2013-05-20T18:39:00.003-05:00

Registration is now open for courses offered through the Harvey Center for Family Learning. I'm really excited about the class I'll be teaching. If you, or anyone you know, is looking for a Great Books online class, please check us out.

Click here to read the course description of my class: Great Books I: The Classical World.

Click here for registration information.

Is a Lack of Imagination Contributing to Our Economic Woes?

2013-04-12T19:08:00.002-05:00

Here's my latest post over at the CiRCE Institute.

In his classic work, Economics in One Lesson, New Deal-era economist Henry Hazlitt critiques modern liberal economic theory. His analysis is interesting and extremely relevant to the current debate surrounding our own economic crisis. Why do the liberal economists win the day? How do they succeed in convincing people that government intervention in the economy will work—despite so much evidence to the contrary?

Selfish interests contribute greatly to the liberal victory. Whatever industry or special interest group will immediately benefit from government intervention generally supports the intervention. And of course, there is an initial economic benefit to the special interest group. The problem is that we only see the immediate effects and we neglect to investigate what the long-term effects will be—on all groups. According to Hazlitt, “In this [the fallacy of overlooking secondary consequences] lies almost the whole difference between good economics and bad.”

One reason that we fail to examine secondary consequences is that we generally lack the ability to follow long, complicated, and boring chains of reasoning. Bad economists speak in half-truths and present their errors to the public better than the good economists present their truths. But, it’s not just that the public lacks a decent attention span and reasoning skills, Hazlitt thinks it boils down to a lack of imagination.

Click here to read more.

Looking for a Great Books Online Class?

2013-03-26T19:13:00.001-05:00

I'm thrilled to announce that I have joined a group of wonderful teachers at the Harvey Study Center.

This fall I will be teaching Great Books I: The Classical World. I am still putting the course together but below is a tentative course description. Comment below if you have any questions.

Great Books I: The Classical World

In the fullness of time, God sent His son into the world. The birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ occurred in a specific place and a specific time, the classical world. As students read a selection of works from the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and early Christians, they will explore the ideas, worldview, and cultural mindset of the classical world.

How is the classical worldview different from the Christian worldview? Why did Christ become man during the reign of Caesar Augustus? The Inklings argued that the classical authors raised questions that could only be answered by the appearance of Christ and the Gospel message. What were those questions and how is Christ the answer?

As in all things, the purpose of this course is to cultivate wisdom and virtue in students and to increase their understanding of the Gospel. At a time when our own culture is rejecting the Christian worldview and increasingly embracing pagan ideas, it is especially important to discern the difference between the pagan worldview and the Christian worldview and to be able to clearly articulate the hope of the Gospel.

Tentative List of Works Covered:

Select books of the OT
Greek Mythology
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Plato
The Aeneid
Luke
Acts

Monday and Wednesday 1:30 to 3:00 pm EST

Note: I am of the "less is more" persuasion. The OT books will likely be assigned as summer reading, and we'll take our time reading the other selections. As I finalize the syllabus I may drop a title or two.

Why Christmas Trees

2012-12-10T20:13:00.002-06:00

from the archives...

As Christmas approaches, most of us are no doubt busy decorating our homes and preparing for the glorious celebration of the Incarnation of our Lord and Savior. As part of that preparation, we will bring a tree into our homes and decorate it. You may have wondered why decorating trees is part of our Christmas celebration. Perhaps you have even feared that Christmas trees detract from honoring the true meaning of Christmas.

Sometimes the claim is made that Christmas trees have pagan origins. Although there were many ancient pagan rituals which included the use of live trees and evergreens during the winter solstice, the use of trees in celebration of Christ’s Incarnation seems to have originated in the mystery plays of the Middle Ages.

From the eleventh century popular religious plays called mystery plays were performed all throughout Europe. One of the most common of the mystery plays was the Paradise Play which enacted the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, their fall and subsequent banishment from the Garden of Eden, and ended with the promise of Genesis 3:15 and the expectation of the coming Savior and His Incarnation. Typical of the time, the stage set was minimal; the only object on stage was the Paradisetree, a fir tree adorned with apples.

In the fifteenth century, the Church ended the performances of mystery plays, but Christians continued the tradition of the Paradise tree, putting these trees in their homes on December 24, the feast day of Adam and Eve. Originally, the trees were decorated with both apples and homemade wafers. The apples represented the Fall and the wafers were a reminder of communion wafers, which represented the Resurrection.

Later, people decorated the trees with candy and sweets and then with lights, which symbolized that Christ is the light of the world. In Germany Christians added glass balls, tinsels and placed a star of Bethlehematop the tree.

The Christmas tree is the perfect Christmas symbol because it points us to the whole story of redemption: first it brings to mind the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the subsequent Fall of all mankind. But at the same time that we are reminded of the entrance of sin and death into the world, we also recall the Cross, called a tree in the New Testament, which defeated both death and sin.

Finally, the tree is a beautiful visual reminder of the Resurrected Christ who is the tree of life and who is in a glorified resurrected state. When our Christmas trees are adorned and glowing, they are glorified trees, which not only remind us of our resurrected Lord, but of the promise of our own resurrected glorified state to come.

Make your Christmas trees beautiful this year and rejoice that the Lord is come. Let your Christmas tree be a bit of nature that sings joy to the world.

Don't Follow Your Heart: Anti-Revolutionary Lessons from Pride and Prejudice

2012-11-15T17:53:00.004-06:00

This is my latest post over at the CiRCE Institute.

It’s easy to forget when reading a Jane Austen novel that she wrote during a time of great revolutionary upheaval: the loss of the British colonies in America, the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, Napoleon’s attempt to take over the world, and the deliberate assault on the institutions of the Church, the Government, and the Family. The world had gone mad. And yet, Jane Austen utters not a word in her novels about those unsettling times, at least not directly.

Jean Jacques Rousseau fittingly titled both the Father of the French Revolution and the Father of Romanticism, rejected both Christian epistemology and Rationalism when he argued that emotion is the highest form of truth. To feel is to know. Unfettered passion is truth. Want to know what’s right? What does your heart tell you?

From Rousseau’s mouth to the ears and arms of romantics and revolutionaries, passion and emotion as standards of truth unleashed chaos and violence unto the world. While revolutionaries picked up swords, Jane Austen picked up her pen. She stood as a bulwark against all the revolutionary chaos of her time. And you thought she wrote love stories.

Beware Little Readers with Big Eyes

2012-11-14T14:02:00.001-06:00

My eight-year-old has entered that fun stage when she is excitedly reading everything around her. Street signs, billboards, labels--you name it, she is reading it. I am often surprised at what she has been able to read, and she is so very pleased with herself.

Last night, as the temperature outside dropped significantly, we decided to warm up under the covers. We climbed into my bed, she with her knitting and me with my new book, R.J. Rushdoony's To Be as God: A Study of Modern Thought since the Marquis de Sade.

We sat quietly for awhile and then she said, "Why are you reading about sex?"

Unbeknownst to me, she was reading over my shoulder and she was reading a chapter about the Marquis de Sade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I quickly explained that I was reading a Christian analysis of modern thought and that I was reading a chapter explaining what an ungodly, wicked man believed. I was sure to point out that I was NOT reading a book about sex. I was reading a book about modern beliefs for my modern history class.

She seemed satisfied with my explanation but continued reading the chapter, this time out loud. I quickly closed the book--equal parts horrified at what she read and impressed with her decoding skills.

I learned a valuable lesson last night. That won't happen again.

But now I have to brace myself for that inevitable moment when she tells someone, "My mom likes to read books about sex."

The Fun of Starting All Over

2012-11-08T11:55:00.001-06:00

My two oldest children are in 10th grade and 8th grade. As a result, our days are spent working on algebra and biology, translating Caesar's Gallic Wars from Latin, studying logic, writing papers, and participating in the Great Conversation.

Don't get me wrong. I love this stuff! I've been waiting since we began homeschooling ten years ago for this moment. I love spending my days discussing Shakespeare and Jane Austen! I love watching my children learn that ideas have consequences. I love watching them make connections and get excited about their deepening understanding of the world. This is the good life as far as I'm concerned.

But...

You knew a "but" was coming, right?

There is something so special about homeschooling a younger student. As much as I enjoy watching my children grow into amazing young adults, I miss snuggling on the couch with a book of fairy tales.

We still read lots of fairy tales and other goodies during Morning Time. And my older son and daughter still enjoy a good hug. But it's just not the same when my son is 16 years old and 6ft 3!

That's why I am so thankful that I still have a younger child to teach. I love getting to start all over.

For one thing, it's way easier this time around. I've learned many lessons and I'm much more relaxed. I can see the fruit of my efforts in the lives of my older children and I can trust this process for my youngest.

Anxiety reigned in my early homeschooling days. Am I doing this right? Am I doing enough? What am I trying to accomplish? Will I blow this?

Ten years later, and two accomplished older students under my belt, homeschooling my second grader is all joy and a great deal of fun.

Today as she and I cuddled in my favorite chair, reading about ancient Egypt from one of my favorite books, A Child's History of the World, my heart was filled with such gratitude. Gratitude to read all those favorite elementary books again. Gratitude for a cheerful youngest child who is so eager to learn. Gratitude for a chance to start all over.

I get the best of both worlds. Challenging, enlightening conversations with my teenagers and sweet cuddle moments with my second grader.

Does it get any better than this? Not for me.

Morning Colloquy 2012-2013

2012-09-28T08:24:00.000-05:00

For years we spent hours snuggled on the couch reading aloud. We read everything, and we made such wonderful memories. We grew in our understanding of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, and we grew in our understanding of ourselves and one another.

Our morning times were the highlight of homeschooling for me. This was one of the first real paradigm shifts for me about education. I began to realize that true education doesn't look like filling in workbook pages. True education looked like nourishing my children's souls on Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.

So, we read and read and read some more. We recited poetry. We read fairy tales and history books. We read Shakespeare and Plutarch. We studied great art and listened to beautiful music.

And we loved it.

Then my oldest entered high school last year, and I panicked. I was convinced that there simply wasn't time any more for all this reading aloud. So, I dropped it. All of it.

We had a great school year last year, but something was missing. And we all felt it.

A lot of school work was getting done but I felt the loss of joy in our homeschool. My kids kept asking my why we didn't read out loud anymore. I gave answers to that question that seemed lame even to me.

Yes, why weren't reading out loud anymore? Why had I let "real school" and fear replace Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Joy?

These were the thoughts I was wrestling with when I attended the CiRCE Conference this summer. The Holy Spirit was preparing me to hear Cindy Rollins' address the very topic my soul was distressed about.

In her talk, "The Long Haul: Using Morning Time to Educate for a Lifetime," Cindy spoke right to my heart. I left the conference determined to re-institute Morning Colloquy.

I know myself. It's easy for me to bite off more than I can chew, so I deliberately scaled down our morning time. I picked a few things to cover--just to see if we could in fact cover all those scary high school classes and continue to read out loud each morning. Baby steps!

My children were so genuinely excited for the return of Morning Colloquy. And I am happy to report that 7 weeks into our school year, we have had no problem fitting it all in.

And it feels like we are home schooling again, instead of just doing school at home. Joy has returned.

Right now I am really fighting the urge to add a bunch of books to this list :)

Note: We cover Art/Picture Study at a different time, that's why it's not on the list. Right now I devote one morning to reading poetry and teaching poetry terms. I am thinking about changing the routine to include one short poem with terms each morning and read through a longer poem (like Idylls of the King) on Poetry Day. The purple selections are what we read as a whole family (2nd grade to 10th grade). The pink selections are what I read to the second grader alone.

Morning Colloquy 2012-2013

Subject	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Prayer
Bible	Westminster Shorter Catechism	Daily Proverb	Wise Words; The Giant Killer; John Plowman’s Talk (Spurgeon)	WSC	WSC
Hymn Singing (Term One)	Hymn 1 (Psalm 100)	Hymn 1 (Psalm 100)	Hymn 1 (Psalm 100)	Hymn 1 (Psalm 100)
Read Alouds	*Shakespeare:* Macbeth Twelfth Night **Romeo and Juliet	*Novel:* Penrod and Sam Wizard of Oz **Men of Iron	*Fairy Story:* The Golden Key * The King of the Golden River ***Lion, Witch, & Wardrobe	*Poetry:* The Oxford Book of Children’s Verses; Norton Anthology of Poetry; Classical Writing: Poetry	*Novel:* Penrod and Sam Wizard of Oz **Men of Iron
This Day in History	The Christian Almanac	The Christian Almanac	The Christian Almanac	The Christian Almanac	The Christian Almanac
Misc Memory (Term One)	Nicene Creed OT Books NT Books Charge of the Light Bridgade	Nicene Creed OT Books NT Books Charge of the Light Bridgade	Nicene Creed OT Books NT Books Charge of the Light Bridgade	Nicene Creed OT Books NT Books Charge of the Light Bridgade

Charis

Subject	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Read Alouds	My Book House v.3 Aesop’s Fables Just So Stories	OT--Genesis Ancient Eygpt *OT--Exodus	Nature Reader 2 Burgess Bird Book Art Reader	OT--Genesis Ancient Eygpt *OT--Exodus	Everyday Graces

Memory	WCC; Poetry; Latin	WCC; Poetry; Latin	WCC; Poetry; Latin	WCC; Poetry; Latin

Eli's Tenth Grade (2012-2013)

2012-09-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

Math

Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2

Latin IV

College Caesar

Writing

Simply Spelling/Dictation

Economics-Based Writing Lessons

Writing assignments integrated with Modernity class

Modernity (Modern History, Literature, and Economics)

I teach this class to a group of homeschoolers twice a week.

The materials I use include:

King's Meadow Curriculum: Modernity

Omnibus III, as well as my own custom literature list

Streams of Civilization vol 2 (spine)

American Republic (part 2) (spine)

Additional free reading (literature, history, biographies)

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Economics in One Lesson--Hazlitt

Lessons for the Young Economist

Logic

Traditional Logic Book Two

Bible

Westminster Shorter Catechism, Part I

Science

Biology 101

Art Appreciation: Architecture

A Child's Story of Art (part 3: Architecture) by Hillyer

Isabella's Eighth Grade (2012-2013)

2012-09-13T11:18:00.000-05:00

Math

Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1

French

First Start French Book One (part 2)

Easy French Reader

English Language (Writing, Grammar, Spelling)

Easy Grammar Plus (part 2)

Simply Spelling/Dictation/Copywork

Economics-Based Writing Lessons

Writing assignments integrated with Modernity class

Modernity (Modern History, Literature, and Economics)

I teach this class to a group of homeschoolers twice a week.

The materials I use include:

King's Meadow Curriculum: Modernity

Omnibus III, as well as my own custom literature list

Streams of Civilization vol 2 (spine)

American Republic (part 2) (spine)

Additional free reading (literature, history, biographies)

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Economics in One Lesson--Hazlitt

Lessons for the Young Economist

Logic

Traditional Logic Book One
Traditional Logic Book Two (I'm undecided if I will cover this book next semester or wait until next year.)

Bible

Westminster Shorter Catechism, Part I

Science

Biology 101

Art/Picture Study

Great Pictures and Their Stories Book 8 (bought this set on ebay years ago)

Charis' Second Grade 2012-2013

2012-09-11T14:26:00.001-05:00

Phonics/Reading/Literature

Classical Phonics

SRA Phonics 3

Various Primers/Readers:

McGuffey's First Reader (classic beginning reader; suggested for late second grade, third grade)

Beacon Second Reader (free ebook. This second grade reader includes fairy tales, fables, and poetry) Easy Readers (Amelia Bedelia, Madeline, etc.)

Boxcar Children

Little House in the Big Woods

(I initially thought Charis would need more time with easy readers, but if she continues improving like she has this first couple of weeks, I think she might be ready for the longer chapter books after Christmas.)

Math

Rod and Staff Math 2

Language Arts

Narration

Queen’sCopywork for Little Girls

Bible/ History

My own lesson plans for Old Testament/ Ancient Egypt:

Term One: Genesis (Child's Story Bible, Victor’s Journey through the Bible)

Term Two: Ancient Egypt (Child's History of the World, various picture books, Boy of the Pyramids (found this at a library sale for 25 cents)

Term Three: Exodus (Child's Story Bible, Victor's Journey through the Bible)

Science/Nature Study

Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2

Burgess Bird Book (free e-book)

Art/ Picture Study

Great Pictures and Their Stories Book Two (this set was an ebay find)

Rod and Staff Art Pack 2

Fairy Tales/ Folk Tales/ Fables

My Book House vol. 4; Aesop's Fables; Just So Stories; Fairy Tales.

Latin

Prima Latina (this will be my third child to use this delightful program)

Character Studies

Everday Graces: A Child's Book of Good Manners

Memory Work:

Westminster Catechism for Young Children (free online version)

Scripture Memory

Poetry
Latin Recitation

Have You Seen These Children?

2012-09-05T17:10:00.000-05:00

Almost 10 years I started homeschooling these two children.

Somewhere along the way, they disappeared.

Then these teenagers showed up.

One day when these kids

became these kids

we all received a very special Christmas gift.

She insisted that I teach her.

She just wouldn't give up.

So now my homeschool looks like this.

Ten years! Wow! Teaching these kids has been the greatest joy of my life.

Ten years down; eleven years more to go...

Review: Memoria Press' Classical First Grade

2012-08-30T22:35:00.001-05:00

We had a very successful first grade year this past school year using Memoria Press' First Grade Classical Curriculum. Building on their fantastic kindergarten program, Memoria Press continues to provide a very solid foundation in the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. You can read my review of the kindergarten program here.

Instead of repeating everything I said about the kindergarten program, I'll simply state that everything I enjoyed about the K program continued with the First Grade Curriculum. I loved the focus on the basics, the optional enrichment activities, which kept me from getting overwhelmed, the high quality literature selections, the copywork, reading from real books, and the straightforward no-frills presentation of Rod and Staff Math.

The program is a real step-up from the K curriculum, and at first I was unsure how my daughter would do. But she performed beautifully and she never felt overwhelmed with the more challenging level. Honestly, that's one of the reasons I chose to go with a boxed curriculum after doing things my own way for almost 10 years. Because I have such a large gap between my older two (who are both doing high school level work) and my youngest. It's quite easy for me to lose perspective. I'm honestly not sure what she is capable of. Using the MP curriculum ensures 1) that I am challenging her enough and 2) that I am not challenging her too much and therefore discouraging and frustrating her.

Oh yes, I am all for flexible homeschooling and allowing children to work at their own pace, but it's nice to look at lesson plans and know that the average first grader can accomplish the work. I don't have to second guess myself wondering if I am doing enough or doing too much. That's a comfort for an intense perfectionist like me.

Furthermore this program is quite flexible. I am a Charlotte Mason homeschooler and I found this program very adaptable and consistent with the principles of Miss Mason.

1. Short lessons. It never took us more than 10-15 minutes to complete a lesson.

2. Copywork. The curriculum uses copywork to teach language arts. The copywork selections are from scripture and poetry mostly. Most weeks the copywork is once weekly, but sometimes it is assigned more frequently. I found it very easy to include daily copywork by choosing sentences from the literature.

The curriculum also includes a spelling program with words from the literature. Some traditional homeschoolers will be pleased with this addition. As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, I prefer to teach spelling via copywork and later dictation. I simply skipped the spelling lessons, but you could also use the lists for reading practice since they contain difficult words from the week's reading and are coordinated with the phonics lessons as well.

3. High quality literature. Children read from real books and are introduced to classic children's books. The literature guides in the curriculum can be used as written, but I mostly used parts of them, preferring narration to comprehension questions. However, the literature guides include vocabulary, some parts of speech, prereading practice of difficult words and handwriting practice that I used for copywork because the handwriting sentences were taken directly from the literature. Don't feel like you have to do everything in the guides. They are a tool. Pick and choose. Keep reading fun!

4. Nature Study. Weekly nature study is included in the enrichment activities.

5. Phonics instruction. Daily short lessons and review in phonics provides a very solid foundation. There are no games or songs or gimmicky prizes for mastering phonetic sounds. Just straight-up, old-school phonics.

I can't say enough about Classical Phonics, the phonics handbook included in the curriculum. As I mentioned in my K review, the more I understand this deceptively simple teaching tool, the more I like it. I call it my phonics secret weapon. I am using it daily to review all the phonics as we start second grade, and I have seen a tremendous improvement in reading already. I wish I had used it to review daily last year. I was lazy, I admit. But I've been faithful this year, and it is paying off.

The program is also flexible enough that if you want to switch out math programs, or if you already have a history program/sequence you are using with the rest of your family, it is no problem at all to make those changes. I chose to follow Ambleside Online's suggestions for our enrichment reading. I thought the two programs complemented one another.

In conclusion, I think the Memoria Press First Grade Curriculum is a great choice for either the beginning homeschooler who needs guidance and structure and for veteran homeschoolers who have their hands full with older children. In the midst of days filled with algebra and advanced science and Latin translations and Great Books discussions, it was a great comfort to pick up my MP lesson plans and just do the next thing. I've only got so much brain power! :)

Isaac Update

2012-08-30T15:54:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your prayers. Yesterday was a very tense day.

Hurricane Isaac crawled through the state on a meandering path, moving west and then moving east and then moving west again. For most of the day the prediction was that Isaac was headed straight for us. I kept praying that it would weaken and move east.

For those of you unfamiliar with hurricanes, you want to be on the west side of a hurricane. The real damage, high winds, tornadoes and flooding occur on the east side of a hurricane. A little shift can make a big difference.

We waited and prayed and waited some more. Things were looking pretty scary.

And then despite all the predictions, the storm weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm just past Thibodaux, Louisiana, and then moved east toward Baton Rouge.

We dodged a bullet. We experienced tropical storm conditions but nothing very bad. God was so merciful. We didn't even lose power. It didn't even blink. Others in the area lost power, but we were very lucky.

The southeastern part of the state, however, really took a beating. While the levees held, because Isaac moved so slowly, the wind damage and flooding, for many people, were worse than Hurricane Katrina. Those folks will still need our prayers as they put their lives and communities back together.

Again, thank you all for your prayers. God responded with great kindness to my family.

Hurricane Isaac

2012-08-29T10:02:00.000-05:00

I intended to write a post today about my newly started school year (including curriculum choices with links!)--it's going very well by the way. It's shaping up to be one of our best years.

However, my thoughts are otherwise occupied at the moment. I am in the path of Hurricane Isaac, and it's looking bad!

Above is a screenshot from an app I'm using to track the hurricane. This app is way more useful than the news coverage--but that is another story.

Hurricane Isaac is only a Category 1 hurricane; however, it is moving painfully slow--only 8 mph. This means much more damage from wind and flooding. We will surely lose power for several days (and it's hot! seriously hot! This is August in Louisiana!).

If I can be so bold as to ask for your prayers, please pray for our safety, for minimal damage to our home (Gustav really did some damage back in 2008!), and that the hurricane will speed up.

The eye is scheduled to hit me around 1 am Thursday morning. We will feel maximum wind speeds starting at 6 pm tonight. I expect to lose power somewhere around then.

So, I will likely be up all night, roaming my house with a flashlight checking for leaks and emptying buckets. My roof was damaged in both Hurricane Lili and Hurricane Gustav. The key is to minimize the water damage by finding the leaks early. The fact that it will be the middle of the night and pitch black just adds to the challenge!

In the meantime, we are entertaining ourselves by playing outside in the wind and eating the entire contents of the refrigerator.

I'll give updates as I can. Thank you for your prayers.

Free CiRCE Talks

2012-08-22T21:16:00.001-05:00

The 2012 CiRCE Conference talks are ready for purchase and download. Check them out here.

Additionally, CiRCE has made 4 talks from the conference available as part of their FREE audio library:

1. My favorite talk of the conference: John Hodges, "Music and Metaphor: Toward a Sacramental View of Creation".
2. My talk. Angelina Stanford, "Imago Dei and the Redemptive Power of Fantasy."
3. John Patrick, "Altruism: Darwin's Achilles' Heel".
4. Buck Holler, "Creation and Vanity in Ecclesiastes".

You can listen to these talks here.

Enjoy!

Let Me Sum Up... (My CiRCE Conference Recap)

2012-08-09T18:53:00.002-05:00

The CiRCE Conference 2012 has come and gone. I would love to be able to tell you everything that happened, but in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, "Tis too much. Let me sum up."

So, here are the highlights:

1. Once again the biggest highlight of the conference for me was the people. I reconnected with old friends and made new friends. I spent 4 glorious days in a community of like-minded laborers in the kingdom of God, and I was reminded that I am not alone in this work. The world is not changed by great men doing great things. Those lights shine bright but burn out quickly. No, true change comes from countless faithful people being faithful in the little things. I was encouraged by the faithfulness around me, and I was renewed.

2. I could watch John Hodges listen to music all day long.

3. David Hicks is not as intimidating as his book, Norms and Nobility. He has a lovely humility and a self-deprecating sense of humor.

4. Wendell Berry is delightful and charming, and I will forever have his voice and expression in my head when I read him.

5. I had a great time delivering my talk "Imago Dei and the Redemptive Power of Fantasy," and people really seemed to be blessed by it.

6. I love watching Martin Cothran play the straight man to--everyone.

7. The Wild Bunch lived up to its name once again. We're homeschool moms. We don't get out much.

8. I need a new headshot. I was repeatedly told by surprised conference goers that, because of my headshot, they expected me to be scary and intimidating. They were pleased to discover that I am neither of those things. Now, I have to practice less frightening poses.

9. Sometimes God's goodness looks like a roof falling on my car.

Thursday night during dinner, some severe weather hit our hotel, ripping off the roof of the hotel and flooding the top 4 floors, as well as a section of rooms all the way down to the lobby. Click here to see aerial photos of the damage. It's really quite impressive. Guests were evacuated to a nearby hotel.

Thankfully, no one was injured--although 60 cars were damaged and 15 were totaled. My car was a total loss.

But, my insurance company took good care of me, providing a rental car and giving me the full value of my vehicle. Now, I get to buy a new car, and I can already see God's kind provision in this unexpected event.

And to top it all off... It has been a bit of a running joke that I have never won a book at a CiRCE Conference. On Friday night, I cornered David Kern and told him that since I had lost my car, I felt like I needed to win a book. It only seemed fair.

The next morning--at long last--my name was called. I won a book! All was right with the world.

All in all a great week. I lost my car, but I met Wendell Berry. I came out ahead!

CiRCE Conference 2012

2012-07-26T15:33:00.001-05:00

I've just returned home from this year's CiRCE Conference, which was fun, encouraging, exciting, and inspiring. I'll do my best to post a few blogs about this year's conference--after I unpack ...

Here's a little tease until then:

Yep, that's me standing behind THE Wendell Berry. I don't think I have ever smiled bigger in my whole life.

And he was wise, and delightful, and completely charming. He came over to our group and said, slyly, "I was just saying to myself, this group attracts an unusually large number of good-looking women." (say that in your head, real slow with a Kentucky drawl)

Needless to say, a group of the finest classical educators in the whole country immediately turned into a giggling gaggle of starry-eyed fan girls. It was wonderful!

More to come...

Until then, enjoy Cindy's random thoughts about CiRCE. (I made the highlight reel! :)

Chesterton on the Love of Repetition

2012-07-05T12:15:00.001-05:00

"A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."

G.K. Chesterton, "The Ethics of Elfland"

A Letter to the LA GOP Executive Committee

2012-06-05T21:47:00.001-05:00

To: Republican Party of Louisiana Executive Committee
CC: RSCC Members, Louisiana Conservative Delegation, & Ron Paul State Convention Delegates

From: Ellen Davis, Elected State Delegate to the Louisiana Republican Convention

I write this letter with great sadness and disappointment in the Louisiana Republican Party leadership. As an ELECTED Delegate to the State Convention, former Executive Director to the LAGOP, a former State Central Committee member, a political ally to Republican Party leaders, a friend, a wife, and a mother, I'm appalled at the actions taken by the LAGOP Executive Committee and other party leadership to use force by police officers to remove peaceful, law abiding ELECTED members of a body, to enforce illegal rules adopted only days before the convention.

The Executive Committee cannot continue to hide behind the unsupported claims that you feared the Ron Paul delegates would behave lawlessly, and perhaps violently. You let your irrational fear of elected Republican convention delegates, many of whom are long-time friends and supporters of yours, cause you to lose all moral sense.

You claim that the violence committed against representatives of the majority of convention delegates was justified because you were simply enforcing the convention rules. Those supplemental convention rules were adopted in a PRIVATE meeting held two days before the state convention in Shreveport. They entirely changed the scope of the agreed upon rules submitted to the Republican National Committee in October of last year.

Those “supplemental rules” were not valid, they were untimely promulgated, not consistent with prior rules and violated not just the LAGOP Bylaws but also rule 1(b) of the actual Caucus and Convention rules.

Furthermore, they were so ridiculous and unnecessarily restrictive that they violate the rules of the Republican National Committee and potentially so damaging as to RISK our eventual nominee’s name not appearing on the ballot under state election laws.

It was wrong of you to try, through those supplemental rules, to deprive the majority of delegates the rights they had been elected to exercise. It was even more wrong to try to silence civil, non-violent questioning and criticism of the last-minute rules change by means of physical violence and assault on our members, and fear and intimidation by several of the elected delegates loyal to you.

You claim that the rule changes were necessary because there was “fear” amongst your minority delegation and the executive committee that the Ron Paul delegates would “steal” delegates and behave unlawfully and violently.

The only thing that was “stolen” was the right of duly elected state convention delegates to elect delegates to the Republican National Convention. It is impossible to “steal” delegates because the rules clearly state that ten delegates are BOUND to Rick Santorum and five delegates are BOUND to Mitt Romney.

Since the convention, you have provided no evidence to support your claims. Videos of the convention prove that, whatever your fears may have been, the only violence carried out was by you, and police officers acting on your orders.

Tell me, just who in the majority delegation were you afraid of? Our delegates included long-time party members, people who have been your friends and supported many of you in past elections. Which of these Louisiana Republicans put you in such fear of violence? Was it:

• Jason Stern - conservative Christian, married 15 years, 9 children, vice president of social conservative nonprofits for 12 years, past Chairman of the Republican Party of Livingston Parish, assistant Cubmaster, and your political ally?

• Craig and Sherri Leblanc – homeschool mother and father of 10, small business owners?

• Shawn Wilson – Christian, homeschool father of 3, small business owner, friend?

• Landon Mills – son of Louisiana Family Forum’s President Gene Mills?

• Colleen Byers Crane – registered nurse, mother?

• Beth Croslow Billings – RSCC member (Dist 56B), a member of the St. Charles parish RPEC, mother to three daughters, married 27 years?

• Connie Bernard – RSCC Member, East Baton Rouge School Board Member, East Baton Rouge PEC Vice Chairman, political ally, mother, wife?

• Wallace Lucas – RSCC Member, small business owner, husband?

• John Roberts – former RSCC Member, former state senate candidate recruited by you, political ally, small business owner, husband, father to 3 boys?

• Hunter Simmons – a mechanical engineer?

• Charlie Davis – my husband, RSCC Member, former Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana, your political ally and friend, contributor, father of 3?

Should I continue? I have a lot more to list, I didn’t even include the several members of our delegation that are medical doctors, retired and active duty military, teachers, retirees.

These people were not strangers to you, not “outside agitators.” They are your friends, neighbors, and supporters. No matter what you thought was happening across the country, you applied a very biased and broad brush to allies and friends. Why did you lack that trust in God that you so heavily proclaim in all of your works?

“So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:6

What justified your fears? Do you realize that at other conventions around the country NOT a single party leader or Paul supporter were arrested or hurt? Not until this Saturday, June 2nd, was there any violence. Your irrational fear ordered that violence, putting Louisiana on the map as the first convention where police force was used. The Republican Party of Louisiana hired police officers to carry out your orders at only your discretion. Being in a disagreement and discussing that disagreement on the floor is NOT grounds for arrest or for cops to force an individual to the ground, then dragged out like a criminal.

After our first delegate was put to the ground, with fingers broken in the process, the only people to fear were the LAGOP Executive Committee and the hired off-duty police acting on your orders. Only members of our delegation were actually harmed and brutalized. None of your delegation was harmed or threatened in any way, and the videos prove that.

You claim there was an atmosphere of fear and intimidation at the convention. The video footage shows that it was your delegation members who created this atmosphere:

• Not once did your cops tell Henry Herford to leave or he was going to be arrested - they just immediately took him down and attempted to drag him out.

• Not once did your cops read Alex Helwig his Miranda rights or tell him what he was being arrested for.

• Your cops proceeded to confiscate cameras and phones without any type of warrant. I guess you wanted no evidence of your unlawful actions.

• Your cops also smiled and gloated for taking down civilians, one of whom was obviously physically handicapped and warned the cops as they approached him that he had a prosthetic hip.

• It was delegates loyal to you standing on chairs, videotaping, showing complete glee while watching men being manhandled by cops.

• Two male delegates loyal to you stood in front of our elected Chairwoman, Connie Bernard, creating human barriers to prevent our delegates to move and pass through, trying to intimidate a woman.

• Men loyal to you stood firmly in the way of one of our women delegates trying to move to the back of the room to talk to our Chairwoman Connie Bernard.

• Men and women loyal to you blocked entrances and exits not allowing our elected members to move freely.

• Your hired cops shoved our woman delegate, an ER nurse, as she was trying to tend to Henry Herford after he was taken down by your cops.

• Your hired cops pushed medical Doctor Aaron Klepper out of the way and demanded credentials as Dr. Klepper attempted to come to Henry Herford’s aid.

• It was the Executive Committee who continued to conduct business after repeated calls from the floor saying we needed a doctor and to call 911. The Executive Committee had the microphone, so why didn’t you echo the calls for a doctor? Was there really no concern for anyone's safety? Or do you just believe that because we are Ron Paul delegates we don’t deserve assistance in a medical crisis? Why did you let your irrational fear cause you to forget basic human dignity?

• You controlled the microphone and at any time could have said enough is enough. You could have called off the cops. Never once did anyone on the Executive Committee or the minority of delegates loyal to you stand up and say this has gone too far. Aren't we fellow Republicans, fellow citizens, fellow Christians first before we are political adversaries?

I know that if the tables were turned, my husband, Charlie Davis, would have been by your side assisting you and stopping the violence. I am also certain that our Ron Paul delegates would have defended you from being attacked by anyone, because no matter what side of the political aisle you are on, tyranny and violence is never acceptable. I stand firmly with the Ron Paul delegates and applaud them for being men and women whom my kids can emulate. I am raising leaders in my household, leaders who always stand up for what is right and always exercise personnel choice in extreme situations.

There is nothing wrong with debate and disagreement. That is what our country is founded on. You should have allowed the debate, you should have allowed Henry Herford to continue and allowed the majority to follow the rules adopted by the Republican State Central Committee without using the police to tend to a simple matter of competing voices.

Ron Paul delegates peacefully and calmly exercised their 1st Amendment Rights and shared their concerns about an unruly, out of line Executive Committee, and your attempt to seize power with the illegal, last minute effort to change the rules. You didn’t even allow discussion. I don’t know of any other business, political, or government meetings where you can completely shut off all communication from the floor, and declare that anybody who even questions the rulings of the chair will be physically removed by the police.

With all this said, let’s go back to the reasons you’ve given for your illegal rules. You claim you wanted to “tighten the rules” so that Ron Paul Delegates could not wrongfully “steal” delegates from the competing national campaigns. But what happened in fact? Our delegation ELECTED to Tampa, the five delegates the Romney campaign requested (one of which you REFUSED to put on your own national delegation list), and many other high-profile Romney and Santorum supporters.

This was not your first attempt to write the rules to ensure that party insiders could control the delegate selection process. The RSCC wrote the rules last year to have the winners of the caucus chose the delegates, making the state Republican primary only allocate delegates in very specific circumstances. There would be ZERO reason to have the caucus if caucus delegates were not going to choose the national delegates. The LAGOP and the RSCC did not care back in October about “stealing” delegates; you assumed you would win the caucuses and wanted to make sure you could install personal friends and others that you owed “political favors” to as delegates.

A large majority of the RSCC and LAGOP Executive Committee were Santorum, Gingrich, Cain, Perry, and Bachman supporters. You knew in the Summer of 2011 that in order to beat Romney, you would need to be in control of the delegate selection, and you had a fairly accurate assessment that Romney would not be able to carry the state of Louisiana when matched against more conservative candidates.

Thus you created the “Caucus/Primary” system. You planned to pick all the delegates in a victorious caucus. But when the Ron Paul voters were better organized than yours and simply out-voted you in the caucuses to win the majority of the convention delegates, you started back-pedaling to find ways to make sure the caucus voters and the delegates they elected were disenfranchised.

Your first intention was to write the rules so you could control the delegates and make sure Romney could gain only a few delegates. When that didn’t work you changed the rules again, to insure that Ron Paul delegates could not get to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, claiming that you were just “protecting Romney delegates”.

Your words and actions are the height of fraud, irony, and hypocrisy. It also remains as a perfect example of why this caucus/primary system was a failure to begin with.

Conservatives are in the majority in this state. We spent years building the party to where it is now. Why did you feel it was necessary to keep changing the rules? Why did you feel it was necessary to have the Executive Committee try to undo the results of the caucus elections? We have the majority, we are the good guys, we supported you! Why didn’t you just get out your vote instead of making backroom deals and last-minute rule changes?

Can you not admit, in light of these facts, that your fears were misplaced, at best? It was your misjudged fear that deprived you of your basic moral sense. This will be your downfall, and if you continue to refuse to acknowledge that your fears were, in fact, irrational and misplaced, and led you to do wrong things, that will only exacerbate the division you have created within the state party by your actions on Saturday.

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

The Executive Committee and the delegates loyal to you now have the opportunity to apologize and right the wrongs committed Saturday. I appeal to you, as your sister in Christ, to admit your wrong doings so that we can begin healing and reconciliation. This is the Lord’s commandment to us as brethren in Christ. Your actions in the coming weeks will be a historic record and telling story of the men and women you portray yourselves to be. Your generations will bear the load of your wrong decisions.

I urge you to denounce these attacks on peacefully organized civilians and ask you to apologize for your abuse of power. As your friend, as your former employee, as contributor to your campaigns and as someone who has ALWAYS defended you, I beg you to make amends and allow a healing process to begin for the good of this state.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

We are Liberty Lovers, Republicans, Americans, and Louisianans, and we deserve an apology.

With Concern,

Ellen Davis
Elected State Delegate to the
Louisiana Republican Convention

Lawlessness, Tyranny, and Violence at the Louisiana Republican Convention

2012-06-02T20:26:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, June 2, 2012, the Louisiana Republican Convention convened to select 46 delegates to the national convention. But within 2 and half minutes violence erupted when the police, at the command of the chairman of the LA GOP, Roger Villere, removed Ron Paul Rules Committee Chairman Alex Helwig. After being detained by the Shreveport police, Helwig was released with several broken fingers and was seen walking with a cane. One can only wonder why the police felt the need to use such force on the 42-year-old small business owner, or why later the police ignored the repeated pleas of the Ron Paul convention chariman that he had a "handicap" when they tried to forcibly remove him, which resulted in his hospitalization.

On April 28 Ron Paul overwhelmingly won the LA Caucus with a 2/3 majority. His supporters headed to Shreveportwith that same 2/3 majority prepared to elect national delegates to the Republican National Convention in August. I was part of that elected delegation.

GOP establishment members were outraged at Paul’s caucus victory and one prominent GOP member vowed he would do whatever it took to stop Ron Paul. Obviously this included resorting to lawlessness, tyranny, and violence.

Mere hours before the convention started the LA GOP emailed delegates 16 pages of rules which trumped both the stated rules of the convention and Robert’s Rules of Order. These new rules allowed the LA GOP to appoint a permanent chairman of the convention, to establish a quorum with only 1/3 of the delegates (the exact number of establishment delegates) and to otherwise overturn any decision made by the lawfully and democratically elected delegation.

The LA GOP demonstrated through their thwarting of the results of an election and through illegal appointments that they care nothing for the will of the voters or the rule of law.

The convention began with the LA GOP violating their own illegal rules. (This is not to even mention the unlawful affidavit that the LA GOP tried to strong-arm the delegation into signing before the convention. That story will get its own blog post.) Delegates were handed at the convention a print-out of the new rules. These new rules established a procedure for the seating of guests to the convention, but the Sergeant at Arms refused to seat any guests because he said he feared for the safety of the delegation—that old standby excuse for tyranny.

Self-appointed Chairman, Roger Villere, called the meeting to order and was immediately presented with “requests for information” by the Ron Paul delegation. He responded to one request and announced that 1/3 constituted a quorum. More requests came from the floor but self-appointed chairman Villere refused to acknowledge these delegates.

Controversy ensued when Villere called for a report from the Rules Committee. On Friday the Ron Paul majority had unseated the establishment-appointed chairman and had elected Paul supporter Alex Helwig. Both Helwig, the elected Rules chairman, and the illegally appointed chairman moved forward to give reports.

Helwig repeatedly insisted that he was the lawfully elected chairman. Self-appointed chair Villere then called in the police to remove Helwig who later sustained injuries during his detainment.

Immediately there was a motion on the floor by the Paul majority to remove Villere. The motion was seconded and passed, at which point the entire Ron Paul delegation, making up 2/3 of the total delegates, picked up their chairs, turned them around, and proceeded to have a lawful convention in the same room at the same time.

The Paul majority then elected Henry Herford as the chairman of the convention. He began conducting business. Unseated chair Villere again called for the police who then approached Herford, who repeatedly asserted that he had a handicap. The police ignored his pleas and he fell to the ground. The police maintain the Mr. Herford fell over a chair. Mr. Herford asserts that his legs were kicked out from under him.

Herford, who has had a hip replacement surgery, was injured. Police initially tried to prevent doctors in the delegation from attending to Mr. Herford, and eyewitnesses report that Officer Mayfield and Officer Bonilla gloated about taking down the 56-year-old. It was indeed a fine day for the Shreveportpolice.

Mr. Herford was later taken to a hospital by ambulance where he was also arrested.

The Paul majority then elected a second chairman, Connie Bernard, who conducted the business of the convention. The lawful and legitimate delegation elected national delegates and accepted reports from the various committees. Efficiently running through the convention agenda, the Paul majority adjourned the convention before 11:30 a.m.

Later the illegal minority convention issued a report falsely stating that the Paul majority had refused to participate in the convention. The Paul delegation never left the room, elected delegates according to Robert’s Rules of Order, and conducted a legal and legitimate convention.

Both conventions will submit delegate slates to the Republican National Convention, who will then determine which slate is the legitimate one.

In the end, the Louisiana GOP establishment may in fact get their way. The RNC may refuse to seat the lawfully elected delegates. But the Paul majority had no other choice.

The LA GOP decided to make up the rules as they went along, giving themselves every advantage and overturning the democratically elected Paul majority.

But the LA GOP are fools—they worked hard to win the battle, but they have lost the war. They may have succeeded in keeping Ron Paul from getting the GOP nomination, but they have also succeeded in making sure that Mitt Romney won’t win the general election.

Romney can’t win without the support of the Ron Paul Revolution. The tyranny, lawlessness, and violence of the LA GOP guarantees that he won’t get that support.

I suspect that Barack Obama raised a glass to Roger Villere and company today.

Update: Eyewitnesses outside of the convention hall report that after police removed Alex Helwig from the room, they threw him onto the ground with great force. Anyone watching this video can see why that kind of treatment was necessary. Mr. Helwig was a public nuisance threatening the safety of the entire convention. I felt much safer once he was removed from the premises. PLEASE DON'T MISS THE SARCASM!

Homeschooling Makes Me a Better Parent

2012-05-16T17:00:00.001-05:00

“Aren’t you worried you are going to screw up?”

That question, or one like it, is often asked of homeschoolers. Some parents find the responsibility of educating their own children so great and so intimidating that they can’t even contemplate it.

My answer to the question is Yep! You bet I’m worried that I am going to blow it

But it’s not concerns over my children’s academics that keep me up at night. It’s that other awesome responsibility that I have. The one that God gave me the moment I became a mother. I’m a parent and that means that God has charged me to disciple my children and cultivate their souls. That’s the part that I’m worried I am going to blow. And that’s why I homeschool.

My children were 6 and 4 when we began homeschooling almost 10 years ago. They attended preschool and kindergarten at a classical school where I taught. I felt good about the education they were receiving. But I didn’t feel so good about our frenzied lifestyle, so we returned home.

I confess it was a shock. I went from seeing my children very little—a rushed breakfast and an equally frantic dinner time, homework, bath and bed routine—and learning about them by reading notes from teachers to being with them all day long every day. And I discovered something: they were little sinners. They had character flaws and bad patterns of behavior that I had never seen. It was overwhelming, not to mention exhausting. I had to correct, and disciple, and instruct.

That’s when I realized that coming home was God’s gift to me. Being with my children in such an intimate and prolonged way allowed me to see into their hearts in a way that I never did when they were in school. Educating my children at home provided me with many—many—opportunities for discipleship and cultivation. Opportunities that I would have missed if my children had been with some other teacher all day long.

Now, I am not saying that it is impossible to disciple your children if you don’t homeschool. Not at all. But I do think that the task is more difficult. A parent will have to work harder to find those teachable moments. And no doubt some parents do.

But if I am honest, I don’t think I would have been one of those parents. I was clueless when my kids were in school. They brought home good report cards. Their teachers liked them and praised them. And, frankly, that was good enough for me. I am grateful that it wasn’t good enough for God. He yanked me out of my complacency and put my children’s spiritual needs right in front of my face. Even I couldn’t miss it.

So, for me—and people like me—homeschooling makes us better parents by providing daily opportunities for discipleship. Does that scare me? Absolutely! Do I feel the weight of this awesome responsibility? All the time! Can I alleviate this responsibility by sending my kids to school? No!

A formal education is only one part of a child’s discipleship. Whether or not I put my son on a school bus in the morning does not change my duty as a mother. One day I will have to stand before God and give account. I doubt that He will be much interested in SAT scores. And, yeah, that scares me.

The Totally Epic Problem of Language Inflation

2012-04-27T18:37:00.001-05:00

Stan Carey of the Macmillan Dictionary recently wrote a short blog about language inflation, which ultimately creates a devaluation in meaning. Popular expressions like epic and brilliant are used to express a more modest meaning than their traditional uses. Brilliantmeans clever, and epic means surprising.

Carey explains, “Such is our need to imbue our words with force and significance, that we use hyperbole to entice people to pay attention – and the hyperbolic terms gradually normalise.”

The same tendency can be seen in numbers as well. Once giving 110% became cliché, people started insisting that they give 210%, 310%, and on and on. To create even more force behind the phrase, people will also throw in a literally. I literally gave 210%. That’s not numerically possible, of course. What the speaker really means is I worked very hard.

This is no new trend. My generation destroyed words like awesome and totally. My parents and grandparents robbed of meaning words like incredible, wonderful, and fantastic.

C.S. Lewis even warned against language inflation: "Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say infinitely when you mean very; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite."

And this is precisely where we find ourselves right now. We have no words left when we want to say that something truly is awe-inspiring or full of wonder.

This language inflation causes problems not only for speakers and writers, but for readers as well. Robbing words of their true meaning and force makes it all the more difficult for modern readers to connect with older books.

Odysseus had an epic adventure, which means more than just out of the ordinary, and he encountered fantastic creatures, which were more than pretty cool.

Language inflation particularly cheapens our understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is called wonderful. He is truly full of wonder. The Lord God is awesome. These words have powerful meanings that a modern reader can’t instantly grasp.

As a child of the 80s I was always uncomfortable calling God awesome like my Christian friends did because I knew that they meant something much less by the use of that word than was fitting to God. If my sunglasses are totally awesome, I need some other word for God!

What’s even more disturbing to me is the trend to use negative words positively. In the 80s, badwas good. Two decades later sick was even better.

I suspect that this trend is more than just sloppiness with words. I suspect that this is really a worldview issue as our culture retreats more and more away from Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. We’ve long preferred ugliness to beauty culturally; it makes sense that our language would reflect that as well. That’s the only way that I can understand how calling something sick is a compliment.

Our souls starve and atrophy in the current culture. We neglect the spiritual aspects of our own being more and more. It makes sense that the language would reflect that as well. Caring primarily for our physical needs, we run across fewer and fewer moments that inspire us with true awe or fill us wonder. Those emotions would require an encounter with the sublime and the time to contemplate it.

Who’s got the time or the desire for that? We’ll settle for pretty good experiences and just label them totally awesome.

She's a Product of Her Generation

2012-04-24T10:20:00.000-05:00

Today my seven-year-old daughter was reading out loud to me and encountered an ellipses.
She paused and said, "Oh, it's loading."