| These Nigerian Christians—my gosh, who’s catechizing them? They are remarkable for their courage and grace under pressure. Not sure I need to do more than note the title for you to want to dip into this CT story: “Pastor Turns Terrorist Hostage Video into Testimony: Another Boko Haram captive in Nigeria is forced to plead for his life, yet is at peace with death because Jesus ‘is still alive.’ ” A Man ‘Bigger than the Age’ I’ve become familiar with the philosopher Roger Scruton only late in my life. He died this week, and this tribute by Douglas Murray is a good introduction to the man and his writings: He was a man who appeared to know about absolutely everything, producing books on architecture, philosophy, beauty, music, religion and much more. In many ways — as his former student Rabbi Sacks once said to me — he seemed bigger than the age. Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a … Woman? This, of course, is a play on the song from My Fair Lady, “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” It is a question that seems to drive some feminist discussions. Put differently, it reads: Anything a man can do, woman can do. This is mostly true, of course, but not completely true. But even if it were, I’ve never understood why any woman would let male aspirations guide her life choices. I happen to think men have made some very sad choices in deciding what counts as a meaningful life. At any rate, many women have decided that they have more interesting things to do than that: A recent study found that about 20 percent of college mothers with children under 18 have opted out or are at home full-time. Around 30 or 40 percent of mothers with degrees from elite schools have at some point taken a sustained break from work. Among Harvard Business School alumnae, 30 percent had at some point been at home full-time.” Two scholars decided to find out what happened to these women as their children got older: The first thing they found was that the opt-out revolutionaries stayed home longer than they had originally planned. Before having kids, many women imagine that they will take time off from work when the kids are little. They want to see the first steps, hear the first words. And they want to see their kids before early bedtimes. And, by the way, full-time child care is pretty expensive. What these moms discovered, though, is that older kids also benefit from having their parents around more. And parents often find their older kids enjoyable. The reasons for their choices are varied, and to find out more, read “They Don’t Wanna Work.” On Falling in Love—with God
I wish I had discovered this poem before I finished the manuscript for When Did We Start Forgetting God? It surely would have found a place. It begins, Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. How Do You Dial a Telephone? Apparently, it’s a lost skill, as this humorous video demonstrates. (HT to BG) Grace and peace, Mark Galli markgalli.com | 