Saturday Good Reads

It’s a 10-part series by a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.  (And it’s not behind the paywall.) It’s called “Trials,” and it tells the story of a childhood disease with no cure, and how patients and their families became part of the research and drug application process. It’s a remarkably well-done story, and I read it in one sitting, all the way to the end.

Religious freedom issues are bubbling all over Canada. The Catholic Reporter has a roundup story on court cases involving everything from licensing for Trinity Western University’s law school to Ontario’s College of Physicians and Surgeons forcing doctors to refer patients for abortion and euthanasia.

I live in St. Louis County, which even as recently as 15 years ago trended reddish in its politics. Today, it’s purple, trending blue. The southern and western sides of the county still trend red, but the eastern and northern sides trend blue. Outside of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia (home of the University of Missouri), the rest of Missouri trends deep red politically. As Michael Totten points out in City-Journal, another state sounds just like Missouri – and that’s Oregon (and likely Washington). The difference is that what we call “out-state Missouri” controls the state legislature. Not so in Oregon.

Some wonderful photographs, a rescue from New Year’s resolutions, why Germany obsesses over an obscure British film, and a flash mob orchestra beautifully playing “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.”

Poetry

Finding a title poem for your book title – Mary Harwell Sayler at The Poetry Editor.

My Life as an Adverb – Jared Gilbert at Frivolous Quill.

A New Year’s Lament – Kelly Belmonte at AllNine.

Art and Photography

Ferns About a Pond – Tim Good at National Geographic / Your Shot and Reading Palms at Photography by Tiwago.

Eve – Tom Darin Liskey via Facebook.

Chilly Chickadee – John Ritland via Facebook.

Sunsets in Missouri – Patricia Hughes via Facebook.

Redeeming the Time - Susan Etole.

Faith

Things Fall Apart – Peter Leithart at First Things Magazine.

The Death of Theology and The Importance of Educated Preaching – Howard Marken at The Imaginative Conservative.  

Wise Men Still Seek Him – Martha Orlando at Meditations of My Heart.

Rescued from Meaningless Resolutions – Jordan Standridge at The Cripplegate.

Religious Freedom in the Spotlight in 2018 – Deborah Gyapong at The Catholic Reporter (Canada).

Life and Culture

Fusionism is Dead. Long Live…What? – Rod Dreher at The American Conservative.

“We Europeans Are Christians:” Christmas Address 2017 – Viktor Orban of Hungary via The Imaginative Conservative.

Trials: A Fight for Children with Niemann-Pick Type C, a Fatal Genetic Disease – Amy Dockser Marcus at The Wall Street Journal.

Fractured West – Michael Totten at City Journal.

British (or German) Stuff

Why is Germany obsessed with this obscure British film? – Jack Hillcox at Sky News.

The Old Gates of London – Spitalfields Life.

Writing

A Few Words About Starting – Dean Wesley Smith.

Flash Mob: Gustave Holtz: The Planets: Jupiter

Painting: Interiors, oil on canvas by Gustave Hammershoi (1864-1916).