Light An aged priest limps down the aisle, clutching what looks like pure light in his hands. Golden sun-like rays have been welded around the outline of a single circle, surrounding a single piece of bread in the middle – the Host — and there, kneeling in the convent, I can hear words of the […]
America’s Infatuation with Sport Heroes
August 14th 1936, almost a year after the legislation of the Nuremberg Race Laws that set the legal framework for Jewish persecution, nine middle-class boys from the University of Washington sat anxiously in their boat on the Langer See towards the outskirts of Berlin.1 And just meters away, the prized German coxswain and his crew […]
Hope in the Midst of Hurt: A Critique of Between the World and Me
“The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” -Psalm 103:6 As a preface to this article, I would like to comment on the topic of racial justice generally. I am a White man. More, I am a White man writing about a Black man’s experience with racism in America. I fully understand […]
John Calvin and the Case for Refugees
The term refugee, especially Syrian refugee, has evolved to become a societal buzzword beyond the point of being easily defined by those who use it. The West’s fascination with the concept spans politics, religion, economics, and culture. In Britain, many observers claim the desire to control the flow of people to and from the island […]
Blessed are the Poor: Debunking the Protestant Work Ethic
Work hard, play harder. As the “happiest college students” in the nation1, we at Vanderbilt certainly enjoy the latter, while taking immense pride in the former. It’s not uncommon to hear people boast, “I pulled two all-nighters last week!” or “I studied so hard I didn’t eat yesterday!” Nowadays, we live in an increasingly fast-paced […]
When Death Strikes at the Happiest Campus in America
When the Princeton Review praised Vanderbilt University for having the happiest students in America for the second year in a row in 2015,1 thousands of students, alums, and faculty oozed with pride about our latest award. However, in the 12 months that followed, a horrific streak of loss and grief fell over our campus. From […]