Author Archives: rogerbarbee

This morning, as if to announce the arrival of March, the temperature invited my wife and me to have our coffee on the screen porch. Early risers because our  aged hound, Nolan, wanted to eat, we drank our first cup of coffee in the fading darkness of last night. No birds called yet because ofContinue reading “This First Day”

In 1919 when H. B. Alexander wrote his essay,  Education and Democracy, the radio was slowly replacing the newspaper as the preferred source of news. The Great War was finally ending, movies were becoming more popular, and while not obsolete, the print industry was beginning to feel the rise and power of radio. The airwaysContinue reading “Voters and Character”

Recently I shared with a friend how I disagreed with a well-known economic expert and his views concerning the economy and pandemic. My friend listened to my rant and then told me that he knew the man, had worked with him, and admired him. While my friend valued the expert’s opinions, he admired mostly howContinue reading “Character and Politics (3rd revision)”

The television advertisement shows a green plant with its leaves wet from a gentle rain that is the over sound. It is a pleasant and calm scene in which the viewer is asked to do nothing  for a fifteen seconds as a circle winds down the time. The viewer is told that she can downloadContinue reading “Calm”

In 1816, President Thomas Jefferson wrote: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects to what never was and never will be.” In 1919 Professor H.B. Alexander wrote, “The two great institutions upon which Americanism rests are the ballot and the public schools, and the latter areContinue reading “Informed Citizens”

Many years ago when our oldest granddaughter spent a weekend with us, she took a bath one evening before bedtime. When my wife walked in to check on her, my “scrubby gloves” were lying on the floor. Asked what happened, our seven-year-old granddaughter answered, “They itched me.”  A perfectly fine, and passive, excuse for suchContinue reading “Truth. Beauty. Virtue”

Yesterday my wife and I drove slowly through a line that snaked around the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. We were there to receive our first vaccine for COVID. As we moved slowly in the line of cars, I was able to examine the imposing stadium dominating our sight; the new buildings signifyingContinue reading “The Man Under the Bridge”

William G. Duffy has spent years reading about and studying The Hidden Gospel ofThomas and now has written a lengthy commentary on the 114 non-dual sayings of Jesus as recorded by Thomas. Duffy takes great care with each saying, examines each thoroughly in a literary manner, and uses other sayings as comparisons of content. ThatContinue reading “Less is More, William G. Duffy on the Gospel of Thomas”

                                             If you exited I-81 and drove on Stoney Creek Road towards Edinburg, VA you would be forgiven for not noticing his garage, a non-descript two-bay one with its back wall built on the bank of Stoney Creek. Its plain and  hidden presence defined him, but not his work. For years I lived in theContinue reading “A Christian Craftsman”

                                               Two recent readings of mine have clashed: Who Killed Homer? and The 1776 Report. Who Killed Homer?,  an examination of the demise of the study of classical education, was published in 1998 and the report, commissioned by President Trump,  was released on January 18, 2021. I admit to being late to the killing ofContinue reading “Oh, if only”