Year of the Father
Pinocchio: With Reflections on a Father’s Love has been a great surprise for me. Many people in America are familiar with the Disney version of this story, which pales in comparison to the depth of Collodi’s original. However, the commentary in this special edition has helped me as much, if not more, than the story itself. This edition has enabled me to live with greater awareness, teaching me how to approach my work at home with deeper gratitude and appreciation.
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The Restoration of Culture Through Literature and Prayer Written by Christina Mermis In an essay entitled “The Importance of Virgil”, my favorite author and educational reformer, John Senior, wrote, “If I succeed in giving anyone even the slightest glimpse into the rich treasure of Virgil, I shall have made my case for the restoration of…
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At the behest of Well-Read Mom, several faithful, tome-toting women are meeting to discuss Vergil’s Aeneid at their book club meetings this month. While some of us may be Latin scholars, most are out of our comfort zones.
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I attended the Well-Read Mom “Awaken Your Heart” conference in Milwaukee earlier this month. There were so many beautiful things about the weekend, not the least of which was being with many other like-minded women who were reading the same thing. During this conference, many conversations were about The Aeneid. Being right in the thick of this book myself, I couldn’t help but connect much of what I heard from the speakers to Virgil’s poem.
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The Role of Literature in Formation Written by Colleen Hutt I was delighted to see Pope Francis’s recent “Letter on the Role of Literature in Formation” and I wholeheartedly agree that we need “a radical change of course” in education. As we become more dependent upon technology and artificial intelligence, I am grateful Pope Francis…
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I was hardly surprised to find a class on Virgil’s The Aeneid as a core requirement for the degree. Yet, I must admit that I approached the epic with some level of hesitancy. In my mind, it was one thing to study Plato and Aristotle, yet Virgil and Homer? The looming question was always, what could one hope to gain by studying them? Should a Christian even read pagan classics? The answer is obvious when considered in light of their historical and, arguably, eschatological significance.
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A Story Reminiscent of Home Written by Susan Severson Over the past several months, I completely immersed myself in the very medieval, very Norwegian world of Sigrid Undset. First, I completely devoured the new translation of Olav Audunssøn (previously titled The Master of Hestviken). I then turned to Kristin Lavransdatter for my fourth time (with…
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Femininity in Support of Fatherhood Written by Nicki Johnston Toward the end of the summer, I found myself in a reading slump. And as we all know from Dr. Seuss, “When you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.” Over the years, I have discovered a reliable…
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Fatherhood and the Human Heart Written by Megan Keyser A reflection on a past WRM read, To Kill a Mockingbird, in honor of the Well-Read Mom Year of the Father theme. Fatherhood is crucial to the development of the human heart. The strength and uprightness of fathers, or alternatively, their weakness and vice, is reflected…
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I was ecstatic, and I do love Well Read Mom. It’s as closest as I’ve gotten to college since college, and I mean the sit-in-a-room-and-talk-about-soaring-ideas part of college. Last year, we read a 16th century monk and T.S. Eliot. This year we’re doing Virgil and Pinocchio. Each year’s list has books you’ve heard of, new releases, and works you were probably assigned to read at some point but didn’t. The conversation, joy, challenge, and sisterhood this sparks is unmatched. It forces you out of the whirlwind of your day and into thinking about art, beauty, goodness, truth.
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