Saturday Good Reads

The Fourth of July holiday came and went with the usual fireworks, parades, and backyard barbeques. But something seemed different this year. While it’s tempting to blame the bizarre presidential campaign, I suspect something deeper is at work. Ravi Zacharias has some somber words in “The Soul of America.” Troy Cady meditates on the fourth watch of the night, and Jake Lee talks about the long night of the soul.

Free speech on U.S. college campuses is rapidly becoming an endangered species. but Sean Stevens at Heterodox Academy has some recommendations for universities to revive it, starting with “have courage.” University of Missouri: take note!

The rhetorical fallout from Brexit in the U.K. and Trump/Sanders in the U.S. continues. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat talks about “tribes” as an explanation, and Alistair Roberts at Mere Orthodoxy expresses a more British approach to the same concept. Both are well worth reading.

On the bright side, we have good poetry (including a poem about crabgrass), the study of Latin being revived in several English cathedrals, the world’s oldest continuously operating library, and a history of the Radio Flyer.

Poetry

Dances with Crabgrass – Brendan MacOdrum at Oran’s Well.

The Office Cleaning Lady – Allen Fischer at Plough Magazine.

Geoffrey Hill: tributes to 'a poet of immense gifts' – The Guardian.

The Man with the Beautiful Eyes (Videopoem) – via Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

Writing

Miss Havisham: A History – Carrie Frye at The Toast.

Behold the World’s Oldest Continuously Operating Library – Saint Catherine’s Monastery In Sinai – Realm of History.

10 Rules of Writing – Amitava Kumar at The Indian Quarterly (Hat tip: Dena Dyer).

Life and Culture

Five Steps Universities Could Take to Revive Free Speech on Campus – Sean Stevens at Heterodox Academy.

We need morality to beat this hurricane of anger – Jonathan Sacks at The Telegraph.

The Soul of America – Ravi Zacharias.

The Myth of Cosmopolitanism – Ross Douthat at The New York Times.

Brexit and the Moral Vision of Nationhood – Alistair Roberts at Mere Orthodoxy.

The meanness that ruins us – Winn Collier.

Faith

When It Happens Here – Loren Paulsson at World Narratives.

In the fourth watch of the night – Troy Cady at T(r)oy Marbles.

Talking to God: Dark Night of the Soul – Jake Lee.

Art and Photography

What is Christian Art? – Aniko Ouweneel at ArtWay (Hat tip: Maureen Doallas).

Small Creatures – Tim Good at Pics, Poems, and Ponderings.

British Stuff

Anglo-Saxon Island Found – Clancy Tucker’s blog.

Shakespeare’s Life – Andrew Dickson at the British Library.

Latin revival: cathedral courses find new fans of 'dead language' – Harriet Sherwood at The Guardian.

Radio Flyer History

Painting: Monk (possibly St. Ivo) reading (about 1450), oil on oak from the workshop of Rogier van der Weyden; National Gallery. London.