Larry Peterson introduces Venerable Adele Bonolis, a twentieth-century woman who dedicated her life to helping prostitutes regain a life of dignity.
Imaginative Wonder
Elves and Wood Folk live here. In a late-summer morning, birds chirping, crickets humming, green leaves languidly swaying, bushes blooming, hens wandering sedately across the yard—queens of their private domain—and my world is blessed. I do not trouble my soul with questions on such a morning. I breathe deep and […]
I’m Making Mine
Imogen trudged down the porch steps of her sister’s farmhouse, doing a quick kindness and her civic duty. She crossed the yard, lugging two large bags to the burn barrel while pattering footsteps followed close behind. She hoped it wasn’t the murdering demon that had kept her up half the […]
Innovation—The Art of Modern Homeschooling
I’ve been writing for ten years and homeschooling for twenty years, and with each new year, I discover fresh challenges. But that’s the adventure. To meet challenges head-on. Innovation is at the heart of homeschooling—and writing—so a lot of what I have to say about homeschooling applies to my writing […]
Mercy’s Sake
Deception makes fools of us all. Yet sometimes the truth hurts so much that we hold back for mercy’s sake. Our human journey can be a treacherous one to be sure. It’s snowing now, very cold, and more snow and lower temperatures are on the way. Our woodstove pipe slipped a […]
I Lift My Gaze
“That’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.” ~Walt Disney When I heard Walt Disney’s quote in the movie Saving Mr. Banks a few weeks ago, I knew that he had hit upon a powerful truth. Little did I realize at the time […]
Faith Based Schooling
One day I shared with my university professor father the name of a religious text I was using in my homeschool, and my dad snorted in disgust. “Use books with real material, for God’s sake!” The I-couldn’t-shoot-through-it-with-a-laser-gun irony was not lost on me. After all, every choice I made in my homeschooling […]
So Loved the World
Christmas—the birth of God as human being. What a concept! For my kids’ generation, I have to translate it in terms of an alien coming to Earth, revealing Himself as the seed of human origin. We are more likely to believe in aliens than angels these days. But, be that […]
Head for Shore
The lake before me runs at an even pace with ripples breaking against the rocky, wooded shoreline. November trees adorned with crumpled, brown leaves shiver in a cold breeze. Evergreens standout, their pine branches waving as if to salute distant friends who never get any closer. This should be a […]
Loneliness and Thanksgiving: Thoughts from a Catholic man
God is the answer, because without Him there is no hope By Larry Peterson Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. (St. Teresa of Calcutta) This will be the third Thanksgiving since my wife passed away, and when you become widowed, there is an inescapable loneliness […]