I had the pleasure of reviewing American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York for First Things. The book is a legal history of the struggles of this Jewish enclave to run itself independently of the surrounding town. It's a fascinating story, especially in the context of certain disagreements… Read More
Tag: BenOp
When Need Comes Knocking
As Ukrainian refugees streamed into Europe, people near and far looked for a way to help. I'm at Deseret, writing about one crowdsourced site for opening your hope to those in needs, and discussing what that practice can look like far from a war zone. When need comes knocking, it changes the way we see… Read More
Encanto and the Benedict Option
Encanto doesn't have a conventional Disney villain, because the musical is about learning to live in safety, putting aside the bad habits that come from fear and scarcity. I covered the musical for First Things, with a particular emphasis on the parallel dangers for Christians. The village is not so different from a Benedict Option… Read More
Fear and the Benedict Option
Any sort of retreat will also attract people who are tempted to hate the part of the world they are withdrawing from. Any group gathering in a BenOp spirit should expect to attract people at varying levels of weariness, anger, fear, and despair. Even a legitimate righteous anger can curdle into contempt or despair. To… Read More
Talking BenOp in Pittsburgh
I'm headed to Pittsburgh this weekend to give two talks. On Friday, April 27th, I'll be a guest at SENT, a young adult gathering with live music, free food and drinks. I'll be speaking about my upcoming book, Building the Benedict Option: A Guide to Gathering Two or Three Together in His Name and leading a… Read More
How do you throw a fasting and silence party?
The New Yorker has written a profile of Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option, and my husband and I were interviewed as part of the article. (It was very funny overhearing the New Yorker fact checker asking Alexi to confirm he was wearing a bow-tie when we met with the author, and that the mac-and-cheese we ate could… Read More
The Lazy Way To Fall In Love With Others
"Having someone come into my home offers me an opportunity to learn to love them better—by a process a bit gentler than aggressively willing myself to love them. Simply having someone over gives me a chance to cultivate what C.S. Lewis calls a storgé sort of love: the love born from familiarity and shared circumstances. Storge… Read More
‘You Are What You Love:’ Accentuate the Ordinary
"In Smith’s diagnosis, one of the ways we neglect God is by refusing his humblest gifts. We might meditate on the readings at church, do a little devotional reading at home, and keep tabs on blog posts online, but we run the risk of 'approach[ing] discipleship as primarily a didactic endeavor—as if becoming a disciple… Read More
How To Strengthen Catholic Community
"Churches can include more 'Winter Christian' themes in homilies and hymns. Winter Christians are both intensely engaged with their faith, but also intensely stymied by spiritual dryness, doubts, a persistent sin, or some other difficulty. (They’re unlike 'Summer Christians' who are joyfully drawn to the faith, and completely unlike people who like or dislike the church,… Read More