A CommonPlace Book. .50

From the first time I discovered it back in seminary, I've loved reading FIRST THINGS. Ever since then I've mooched the issues from Maxie Dunnam's subscription. 

Here's how they describe their mission:

First Things is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society.

Needless to say i was devastated at the death of their founder, chief editor and most prolific writer, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.  

I wanted to share an interesting article I read from the May 2008 issue entitled, "A CommonPlace Book," by Alan Jacobs.  It struck me as an earlier era's description of what many today utilize their moleskines for.  Here's a clip:

It’s likely that, as long as people have been able to write, some have recorded memorable ideas, wise sayings, or beautiful lines of poetry—words of rare value, distinctive enough that we dare not trust them only to our memories.

You can read the rest of the article here.  It's short and quite interesting.