News from the Front Porch Republic
Greetings from the Porch,
This past week I spent a couple of days in Florida speaking at a university in West Palm Beach. It's a strange part of the country, with Mar-a-Lago and the mansions on the island of Palm Beach just across the bridge, but it was delightful to talk with students and faculty and to meet some FPR contributors and readers.
- In this week's Water Dipper I highlight two upcoming farming workshops and recommend essays about rootedness, music, and Apple vision.
- Mark Botts expresses gratitude for the faithful witness of a younger sibling: "Hardship often proves the crucible that forges a younger soul into a soul with admirable character, so much so that even someone older would do well to mark them and learn from them virtue."
- Frank DeVito untangles the intertwined nature of rights and duties: "Our duty is to live lives that conform to what is good, true, and beautiful. Natural rights in general, and the rights enshrined in the Constitution in particular, are means for citizens to fulfill their duties, live good lives, and build up their families and communities."
- Edward Hopkins considers the parallels between making a table and making a self: "It’s a new year, and many of us are thinking about self-improvement. This is a wonderful thing to do. We all need a bit of a tune-up now and then. But as we make our resolutions and focus on ourselves, it’s worth considering the parable of my table."
- Paul Schweigl wonders about the benefits of having bars in church basements: "Might our local faith communities support such cultivation of virtue, while also restoring what might again be a hub of parish social life?"
I'm reading aloud the Lord of the Rings to our daughter, and it's been a delight to revist that narrative. Tolkien can tell a good story and convey deep wisdom. I was struck by Elrond's account of the three rings of power that the Elves wield. Even though they have contributed to great good, Elrond is willing to relinquish them and all their creations for the sake of destroying the one ring:
The Three were not made by Sauron, nor did he ever touch them. . . . They are not idle. But they were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the One. It would be better if the Three had never been. That is his purpose.
When asked what will happen to these rings if the one ring is destroyed, Elrond replies,
We know not for certain. . . Some hope that the Three Rings, which Sauron has never touched, would then become free, and their rulers might heal the hurts of the world that he has wrought. But maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will fade and be forgotten. That is my belief.
Thanks for spending some time with us on the Porch,
Jeff Bilbro