Little Candles in a Darkening World
Regardless of how dark it seems around us, our calling is to live differently. It does not have to be out loud, trying to drown out the cacophony of sound in the political space – but we thank God for those who are there! But if we all pay attention to the ‘millions of small and tedious good deeds’ every day, so that those around us can see charity in action, it will make a difference. That is our job, in which we can celebrate with joy. It is also why God chose a ‘peculiar people’– to show how we are made to live.
We appear to live in times that seem to be harder for those of us who wish to live out our Christian faith in public. Although as I reflect back across my over sixty years, the marginalisation started for me in the late 1960’s. The early sixties were fine because in my local government primary school, it was taken for granted that our moral code was based on Biblical principles. It was like we lived by the ‘second tablet’ of the Ten Commandments (about ethical life together) even if not everyone held to the ‘first tablet’ (about putting the Creator God in His rightful place).
But then came high school. I and a friend were the two shortest in a cohort of over 240 students. But I was the only one who would ask ‘God questions’ (now known to me as ‘deep’ or ‘philosophical enquiry’). That was enough to see me picked on in some way, including being hit (normally by a group – bullies need that reassurance to act).
What followed was university. That was in 1974. My first year was a blur because I had no idea what I was doing (being the first one in my family to have that opportunity). By second year, the questions started coming back to me, and I looked forward to asking them in a place of ‘higher learning’. But if I asked in Psychology or Sociology something like, “So professor X, can you please explain what you think are the ‘parts’ that make us humans who we are?”, the response was always the same: “We are not here to discuss that.” Or if I asked in Industrial Relations (in an honour group no less), “So what do you Marxists or Capitalists think drives people deep down, so that your theories will work?”, I got the same answer.
So by the mid-1970s, if my experience is anything to go by, the academic world in Australia had let go of thinking and discussing deeper philosophical aspects of human life – personal and social.
But in discussing this recently with a friend, who has been involved in higher education for a significant time, I came to understand that this tactic of ‘ignoring the question’ had shifted for many of our young people. These days, asking these kinds of questions is more likely to result in them being harassed, or if asked via social media, cancelled. Their teachers are more likely to face the same consequences.
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Cry Macho, Shake Hollywoke: At 91, Clint Eastwood is Still the Man
The film’s introduction to Eastwood — bent and slow — is jolting, even though he’s been aging before our eyes for six decades. But that actually works as his character, Mike Milo, starts to rediscover his self-worth to become gradually stouter and tougher. Milo only agrees to bring back the 13-year-old son of his rancher ex-boss, Polk (Dwight Yoakam), after Polk invokes the ultimate western code to both him and the audience battered by “toxic” male bashing: “You gave me your word, and that used to mean something.”
Only one man in Hollywoke today could make a movie as old-fashioned, straightforward, and ultimately uplifting as Cry Macho, and trigger half a dozen progressive landmines in 104 minutes. On the surface it’s the simple tale of a broken-down old Texas cowboy who goes to Mexico City to half-rescue, half-kidnap a rich rancher’s troubled son from his nefarious ex-wife. But deep down, it’s an elegiac cinematic poem about manhood old and young, womanhood, regret, loneliness, and second chances. Clint Eastwood corrals all those wild horses on both sides of the fence, as a marvelous director and an onscreen icon — sadly the last of the latter — while bucking the politically correct wallow of his Industry peers.
For Cry Macho is a western, despite the modern trappings of cars and phones. That is a forbidden genre to Hollywoke because men are men and women are women, hard as it has tried to inject feminism into it with pathetic results (The Quick and the Dead, Bad Girls, Godless). And if there’s any genre Clint Eastwood is a master of, it’s the western. He’s been making them off and on for 65 years. Now he’s added a fine contemporary one to his legacy.
Cry Macho presents classic elements of the form, like the hero’s odyssey through a savage land where life is cheap and law unreliable to re-civilize a youth gone native. Modern Mexico, alas, supplies this aspect, which Eastwood unflinchingly captures. Any similarity to The Searchers is not coincidental. Some 20 years ago, Ridley Scott wanted Clint to star in a remake of the John Ford classic which Scott would direct. Tempted, Eastwood pondered six months of horse riding like he could once do in his sleep, and gave Scott a typical short answer. “Can’t do it, Ridley.” Although his Cry Macho character does ride a horse, at age 91 Eastwood wisely let his stuntman take the saddle.
Other liberal-exploding western tropes prominent in the new picture include male bonding, the man-boy tutor dynamic, hostile natives, religious respect, and the duality of women between either the carnal saloon girl or the nurturing matriarch.Read More
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Family Worship is Incremental and Iterative
God can use the small act of faithfulness in gathering your family together to pray or sing or read His Word for His great ends. There will always be more that you want to do with your family worship time. But by starting small and incrementally building and by adjusting your plans as needed you can ensure that your family keeps up the habit of growing in the knowledge and love of the Lord together.
When I was a single college student, I operated under the assumption that family worship is simple to implement and execute. I expected to find the “perfect formula” soon after I was married and then spend the rest of my life executing that perfect plan. How wrong I was. I am sure for some people, implementing family worship is easy and straightforward. But I would wager for most people, even though you have a desire to start and continue regular family worship, you find that it is easier said than done. This can quickly become discouraging if you don’t remember that family worship is typically incremental and iterative.
Incremental: Little Victories Build to Bigger Victories
What do I mean by incremental? Oftentimes, your family worship will not start with a long, complicated liturgy right off the bat. There are a dozen different things you can do with your time: Bible reading, catechism memorization, hymn singing, prayer for your local Church, and on and on the list goes. If you try to do too much all at once, the habit of worshiping together as a family each day actually becomes more difficult to nurture. There is a lot you could do with your family worship time. The question is what is most realistic, spiritually edifying, and glorifying to God way to spend the time that you have.
If you want to start worshiping God together as a family on a consistent basis, start small. Focus on one or two activities primarily, like reading a chapter of the Bible together and then singing a hymn. Your family worship time does not need to become a daily mini-Church service right away. In fact, biting off more than you can chew with family worship is, in my opinion, one of the main reasons so many families with good intentions end up giving up on it. Start small and build up as you go.
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A Response To “When the ‘Harvard of Christian Schools’ Goes Woke”
Contrary to what appears on the web piece, Wheaton College remains fully committed to Christian service—which we embrace as “service” in our very mission statement—to biblical orthodoxy and Christ-centered education, including in matters of human sexuality, gender identity, and race relations. For accurate information about our convictions, please visit our webpage on Institutional Commitments.
Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,
This morning, an opinion piece by a freelance writer appeared on the FOX News website, making various claims about the College that are either false or misleading. The mischaracterizing post seems to be cobbled from out-of-context items found on the Internet. The author does not name any sources or give any citations for his many contentions.
The writer attempted to reach out to our marketing department approximately a month ago, when he wrote a phone text that began, “I am writing for the Wall Street Journal” and ended with “My deadline is tomorrow at noon.” Our spokesperson questioned Mr. Scheiderer’s credentials, and Mr. Scheiderer admitted that he was actually a freelance writer attempting to “pitch” an idea to the WSJ Opinion Section. A representative from the WSJ confirmed that he was not an employee. Although the WSJ did not run his piece, evidently he was able to have it appear on a FOX News page.
Contrary to what appears on the web piece, Wheaton College remains fully committed to Christian service—which we embrace as “service” in our very mission statement—to biblical orthodoxy and Christ-centered education, including in matters of human sexuality, gender identity, and race relations. For accurate information about our convictions, please visit our webpage on Institutional Commitments.
I would discourage members of our community from engaging further with an incendiary op/ed that fails to meet minimal standards for journalistic accuracy.
In Christ’s service,Philip RykenPresident
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