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The physical appearance of conservative women is repeatedly scrutinized in a gossipy, high school, “mean girl” fashion in the pages of high-profile magazines.

If we wait until external economic forces are perfect before we take our finances seriously, we’ll never achieve financial freedom.

According to their teachers, some students lack the technical skills necessary for tackling a long or difficult text – a weak vocabulary, for instance, or the inability to track long sentences or untangle complicated arguments. 

This holiday season, let’s seek out those quiet traditions to calm our hearts and prepare ourselves to spread that same joy and peace to others.

History is real. It happened to real people, in real physical places. That is why monuments and ruins matter.

As we progress through the Christmas season, I invite you to consider, as Solomon did – sitting comfortably in the midst of the paradise of his kingdom – that the material world, with all its appeal and shimmer, has an expiration date.

“How lucky we are, how very lucky we are, to live in the great country, to be Americans—Americans all.” Studying our past will only deepen that gratitude.

One of my favorite Christmas films never makes the list of holiday classics, likely because Christmas is hardly mentioned at all. Yet the message of Christmas is infused throughout.

The backlash against McDonald’s and its AI ad should teach us that we as consumers still hold the ultimate power to decide what companies brazenly present to us as artistic advertisement or product. 

Down through history, mystics, poets, and saints have told us again and again of the beauty and wonder to be found in the nitty-gritty of everyday reality if we have only the eyes to see and the ears to hear. 

The backstory behind “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is fascinating because it highlights the great disconnect between the ordinary, average American and those in life who pull the strings.

The small but lovingly made gift is a symbol of love.

Families aren’t weaker because parents care less, they’re weaker because the system stopped caring about families.

Thus, the intuitions of ancient philosophers align with the findings of modern scientists: human beings are made for connection with one another and with a higher power. Fulfilling these aspects of our nature makes us happy.

Kindness is contagious. We’re not just giving a gift, however large or small, to one or two people when we’re kindhearted. They’re likely to pay it forward to others as well. 

Many today believe that public schools should never contain an ounce of religion. That attitude, however, has resulted in a completely different form of religion which permeates our schools today: secularism.

When it comes to schooling, less is more.

With a little practice this Advent season, we can “make something beautiful again.”      

When former Communist spy Whittaker Chambers rejected the Communist philosophy of faith in man and embraced faith in God, he had what he viewed as his first Christmas.

There is a liberator who owns a set of bolt cutters that can break any chain made. Psalm 107:14 declares, “He brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.” 

A childish society is one in which chaos and irresponsibility prevail. If we want to avoid such a society, then perhaps it’s time to purposely reincorporate more rites of passage into our normal culture.

If what is in the heart truly matters, then so does White’s presentation of his body as female, especially when his God-given sex is male.

Thanksgiving is the one day of the year set aside for counting our blessings. It’s the one day of the year when we are called to pause and consider the good in our lives. If you’re finding yourself on the short end of the blessing stick, consider this: you’re alive, breathing, and part of the mystery of this planet and what it means to be human. 

The fact is, the trials and difficulties and the deaths and disappointments of this life are not a waste simply for the reason that God is sovereign.

If we want to become truly rich, the journey will require a culture of resilience and reform. Addressing our cultural irresponsibility begins with taking responsibility for ourselves.

It is this loss of the sense of the real – with all the dire implications that has for philosophy, morality, culture, and religion – that is perhaps the most concerning aspect of the growing dominance of digital life.

Add this triple dose of vitamin C – common sense, civility, and citizenship – to your day. You’ll feel better, and you’ll also bring some light to the asylum.