Tag Archives: faith

Reflections on Evil

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Yesterday I had breakfast with a family victim of a tremendous wrong. I won’t go much into details – it’s not my story to tell and it hasn’t been told yet. Maybe someday. What struck me about the discussion was … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy | Tagged | 1 Comment

On Fatherhood and Faith

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Raising a little boy in troubled times is a tremendous feat. They say marriage makes you a better man; but it is not a wife that improves you. Being a father makes you a better man, or it should. Carefully … Continue reading →

Posted in America | Tagged | 2 Comments

Prester John

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

We from the West believe that history stopped perhaps in Moscow, picking up again maybe in Beijing but probably more realistically in Tokyo. The expanse between, a wasteland. Stories of Siberian gulags and the endless windswept steppes. Then came Genghis … Continue reading →

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In Venezuela the Church Still Endures

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Yesterday I had coffee with a new friend, who is himself Catholic, and in a wide-ranging conversation you have when you are surprised by stumbling upon a kindred spirit, I recalled this article I wrote about the Catholic Church in … Continue reading →

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Our Ending Age

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

There are ruins strewn across the length and breadth of this world. Tiwanaku, sitting high and sterile in the fastness of the Bolivian Altiplano protected by its Andean ring of mountains and the highland oxygenless lake filled during the last … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs, philosophy, Uncategorized | Tagged | 10 Comments

Goodreads Year In Review – 2021

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

I like to look back upon the books I read during a given year. A sense of accomplishment, a feeling that I’ve learned something. To remember things that moved me; where I was or what I was doing. Sitting in … Continue reading →

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A Wrinkle in Time

Posted on August 21, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

It wasn’t so long ago that publishers were willing to invest in tremendous works of literature for young minds that marry the great truths of our world with the faith that makes them work. The laws of gravity and entropy, … Continue reading →

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The New America?

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

“Go see the new America,” I was advised by a not-altogether-well-meaning friend. “See how America has changed.” “America has changed a lot in the last nine years,” said another friend, “and not all for the better.” And yet again, “America … Continue reading →

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On Oppression

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

Last night I was reading the Bible to my little boy – we are now in the life of Jesus – the story about when the Pharisees tried to trick him by asking him whether a good Jew should pay … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Liberty | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Short Story Worth Dying For

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Sometimes you stumble across something that is majestic. That’s what happened with “Farewell Aylis”, by Azeri novelist Akram Aylisli. Specifically, of this “Non-Traditional Novel”, the second short story – Stone Dreams. Stone Dreams is a story of an Azeri man … Continue reading →

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