Tonight Scott and I looked at the photographs entered in the BJU Commencement Contest. The varied subject matter of the photos reminded me that beauty pervades everything. Even all that has been marred by the Fall retains, to a greater or lesser extent, its original beauty. As the Preacher wrote, “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Eccl. 3:11).
Today is the two hundred thirty-first anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775. In Massachusetts, this holiday is called Patriots’ Day (and is usually celebrated on the wrong day).
I just registered electronically as a graduate student in history. Next semester I’ll be taking these classes:
Common-place is a website about early American history that claims to be “a bit friendlier than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine.” I haven’t read all of the latest issue, but I recommend the articles “The Rise of Usury in Early New England,” “Bookkeeping as Ideology,” and “Big Money Comes to Boston.” The last of those articles tells the history of the Pine Tree Shilling and John Hull, the mintmaster, whose funeral sermon by Samuel Willard I cite in my senior paper.
by C. S. Lewis
The mind too has her fossils to record her past,
Cold characters, immobile, of what once was new
And hot with life. Old papers, as we rummage through
Neglected drawers, still show us where the pen, fast, fast,
Ate up the sheets: and wondering, we remember vast
Designs and knowledge gathered, and intent to do
What we able then to have done . . . something drew
A sponge across that slate. The ferly would not last.Though Will can stretch his viaduct with level thrust
High above shagg’d woods, quaking swamp, and desert dust
Of changing times, yet he must dig for his material
In local quarries of the varying moment—must
Use wattle and daub in countries without stone, and trust
To basest matter the proud arches’ form imperial.
Pastor Bob Bixby wrote a generous and gracious recommendation of Bob Jones University. Whether you are predisposed to appreciate or to criticize BJU, you’ll benefit from reading his recommendation.
For “Westward Movement in America,” Dr. Sidwell assigned us a popular history paper. We were to write the paper as if it were intended for a popular magazine rather than a scholarly work. (It was a fun assignment, which I mentioned earlier.) I chose to write about the Pony Express. I don’t think I wrote very well for a popular audience (which is to say, I didn’t write very well at all), and I think I should have chosen a more important topic (perhaps some musings on topic selection later). But though I’m not thrilled with my paper, I shall allow you, gentle reader, to be its judge.
John Barnett has put a draft of his research paper on his blog. He tells a fascinating story about Katherine Stenholm, her education in cinema, the production of the film Wine of Morning, and BJU’s represenation of the United States at the Cannes Film Festival during the Cold War. I suggest you go read the paper.
The Backward Glance is the blog of Lincoln and Abby Mullen. Lincoln Mullen is a reference librarian at Bob Jones University's Mack Library and a student of history. Abby Mullen is a master's student in English at Bob Jones University. She teaches freshman English at BJU. [Read more »]
“Galloping into Debt: The Pony Express as Business Venture” 
