The Narthex

Can we have a discussion that prescinds from party identifications, a discussion that involves normal people talking to each other? TikTok showed a 32-year-old teacher sharing with the world her previous evening’s pillow talk with her “fiancé” -- they “won’t be having kids” if Donald Trump’s in the White House.…

The New York Times’ “Ethicist” column is an anti-gift that just keeps on giving. On December 20, it discussed “family planning in uncertain times” (a link is below). The gist of the correspondent’s question is whether, at a time when the climate is changing and the bogeyman of “overpopulation” still…

The Bald and the Unbeautiful Head shaving has been among the jejune reactions of some frenzied women to Kamala Harris’s implosion. Social media is full of these virtue signalers demonstrating why haircuts should only be done by trained professionals. I’m surprised Biden’s FDA has not demanded warning disclaimers on these…

The Value of a Smile This morning, a woman sat opposite me on the Metro. I didn't know her nor she me, but I did notice one thing. She smiled, not just at me but at whomever she looked. She didn't try to pretend she saw nobody in a car…

Freedom Versus Self-Will Continuing my way through Roman Brandstaetter's superb literary corpus, I ran into a collection of short meditations he penned, inspired by his positive encounter with Franciscanism. He spoke of a writer, sitting at his desk, who noticed a bee walking along his window pane. Caringly, he opened…