One of my favorite experiences is the sense of awe that washes over me when I walk into a beautiful church. I love being called to prayer through seeing the beauty of stained-glass windows, stone arches, painted statues, and lifelike images of biblical scenes. All these things work together to communicate to me that I am not in an ordinary place, but rather in the … Continue reading A Defense of Beautiful Churches

by Jonathan Schulz In a new place or a place where the usual population has significantly shifted, one may easily mistake new faces in the crowd for familiar faces from elsewhere. These faces become ghosts of an old reality within a new reality. Even so, one is not always wrong to see similarities in unlikely places. The familiar face in an alien crowd may be … Continue reading Ghosts in the Crowd: Human Apprehensions of Similarity and Difference

By Dr. Matthew Mehan  Weird Al Yankovic is still weird. And thank God he is. Recently, he had me worried that he somehow un-weirded himself after his 2014 album Mandatory Fun briefly topped the charts at number one — a feat previously unknown to that “White & Nerdy,” polka-playing parodist. But I think his more recent rise to general popularity is not a sign that … Continue reading Weird Al Yankovic is Still Weird 

by Caroline “Anne” Love  The question on all of our minds is whether anyone can really succeed in all these so-called important parts of life. Why is everyone afraid of growing old? Yet why do we simultaneously celebrate every milestone in that journey of growing older? Could it be because, especially as Americans, we want to “win” in life? In this culture if you do … Continue reading Wilting Flowers: A Reflection on the Futility of Age

by Jacob Schulz While Congress debates whether to ban Tik-Tok for involvement with the Chinese Communist Party, now seems like a good time to consider the impact of social media in general on our society. Many people find Tik-Tok’s claim to fame rather odious—that infinite feed of short and often meaningless videos—but the same or similar features are now firmly entrenched in nearly every social … Continue reading Dangers of Social Media: Using the Looming Tik-Tok Ban to Take Another Look at Social Media

Let me say first that I think abortion an admirable practice with many benefits. It preserves the free choice of all people and saves women the pain and emotional trauma of having a part of their own body forcibly removed. Most importantly, abortion limits overpopulation. Imagine—if all the aborted fetuses had instead been allowed to grow into human beings, what would be the state of … Continue reading Another Modest Proposal

by Megan Li In the fall of 1996, my high school literature teacher Mr. Stephen Rippon befriended the woman who would become his wife. “ [She] mentioned Shakespeare, and I came across as just kind of lukewarm about Shakespeare, so that did not impress her,” Mr. Rippon laughed, “because she really likes Shakespeare.”  Ironically, he went on to teach literature at Delaware Valley Classical School, … Continue reading “It Is in Our Nature to Love”: What Romance Stories Can Teach Us

by Anna Jackson  Winner of the Barns Award for Excellence in Poetry A gentle girl in swirling skirts – the Sea Dances a mazurka with the moon Dressed in azure, trimmed in lace-like foam Which brushes softly on the sandy shore. But in the wind-tossed waves a monster starts To rise, distorts the dance, and soon Where once there was a girl a siren stalks. … Continue reading The Hurricane

by Grace Bryant Winner of the Dana & Elinor Kie “Rose Award” Characters:CHRISTOPHER: A plain, young man in a suitDAN: An older man in an undershirtPAULA: Dan’s tired wifeBETH: Dan and Paula’s neighbor, a Southern lady Set Requirements:3 free-standing doors, 2 ladders, a bouquet of flowers Curtain opens on city street in the late afternoon. There is a row of townhouses represented by 3 doors. … Continue reading Daisies for Jeanine

by James Lauve Winner of the Margaret Weymouth Jackson Award in Creative Writing What barren rock, what cruel, remorseless land Is now the grave of my belovéd ship— The fairest craft that sailed the celestial seas Above, until that curséd ast’roid rammed  Into her mighty hull and brought her down? What lifeless planet do I stand upon? For lifeless it is, no creature’s calling greets … Continue reading Deucalion