Amid the wide array of quaint pelling Christmastales, O. Henry’s classic short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” continues to stand out as a uniquely captivating portrait of the powerof sacrificial exchange. On the day before Christmas, Della longs to buy a present for her husband, Jim, restlessly counting and recounting her measly $1.87 before eventually surrendering to her poverty and bursting into tears. “Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim,” the narrator laments. “Her Jim. Many a happy...

To provide a synthesis of Pope Francis’s thinking on the economy is both difficult and easy, says Oskari Juurikkala in this week’s Acton Commentary. “It is difficult, because he has never offered extensive and systematic reflections on such questions; his pronouncements are found here and there, inseparable from a broader moral and spiritual message.” At the same time, he has said quite a few things about economic questions, and he is deeply interested in economic values and es. Of course,...

Americans obsession with positive “rights” has a significant influence on the country’s economy. Over at the American Spectator, Samuel Gregg argues that despite the portrayal of the United States as a “dog-eat-dog” society where the most vulnerable are left to fend for themselves, the country actually spends an enormous amount on various forms of welfare. In fact, the U.S. is the second biggest “social spender,” following only France. Gregg explains how the country reached this: On the one hand, there...

The faith-work movement has risen in prominence across evangelicalism, with more and more pastors and congregations grabbing hold of the depth and breadth of Christian vocation and expanding their ministry focuses in turn. In an article at Missio Alliance, Charlie Self offers a helpful snapshot this trend, explaining where e from and why this shift in arc and emphasis is a e development for the church. To demonstrate its power and promise, Self begins with the story of Scotty, a...

A prototype with DC appliances connected.[Note: See this introduction post for an explanation of gleaner technology.] Forty percent of the world’s population, including a significant portion of the rural and urban poor sections of the population in India, does not have access to reliable electricity supply. But a new energy source for them e from an unlikely source: the 50 million lithium-ion laptop batteries are thrown away in the U.S. every year. According to MIT Technology Review, researchers at IBM...

He was 35 years old, and the Civil Rights Act had passed. For almost 10 years, he had been leading the national struggle in the United States for equality for all citizens, but especially blacks. Today, in 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize: After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political...

Rather than just responding to the advances of modern liberalism, conservatives should consider how they would transform the United States. Over at Public Discourse, Samuel Gregg discusses President Obama’s final years in office and how conservatives should react. A major challenge facing conservatives after Obama will be the breadth and depth of modern liberalism’s impact since 2008. This includes the relentless promotion of lifestyle liberalism at the level of social policy; the easy-money, top-down approach to the economy; and a...

Most of us would say we don’t like “reality” television, yet many of us have been sucked into some show that purports to show the real lives of rich people, poor people, large families, little people or drunk college kids. In all these cases, the people featured sign on for the privilege of broadcasting their lives in excruciating detail. Now, A&E (which used to mean “arts and entertainment” but it lost the “arts” at some point) is planning a show...

Religious believer or not, most of us agree that we should take care of the downtrodden. We have to feed and care for the homeless, the hurting, those who’ve temporarily hit hard times or those who, for whatever reason, cannot take care of themselves. These are the people who gather at the entrances of soup kitchens, who live atop garbage heaps, who salvage whatever they can for a shelter to call home. What about those who live in the “cyberslums?”...

Today over at Think Christian I explorehow Christmas relates to material goods, and specifically how we are to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33). ...