We need not assume the mantle of an anti-materialist to appreciate that a certain degree of social equilibrium is dismissed or ignored during the holidays, allowing for a lack of societal and personal restraint. Many otherwise normal considerations are subsumed into the pursuit of a "happy" holiday. All too often this demands we forgo normal obligations and long-held practices in the pursuit of temporal exuberance. Of course, the holy seasons of Advent and Christmas are typically approached with a spirit of reverence and excitement, but when inherited customs are displaced, we provide an opportunity for other influences to prevail. A cherished, but potentially wearisome tradition that can become corrupted is the giving of gifts. The best gifts should encourage the family member or friend to live life to the fullest extent possible, while also pursuing the higher potentialities of their existence and their faith.
After decades of giving presents that were usually dispensed with, or discarded
in a few days, or "regifted" to aid another's frenzied pursuits, I
became determined to give gifts with a point, or at least gifts that would
connect the recipient with the larger social and political tradition of which
they are part. The gifts that are most
likely to endure and fulfill the stated goal are books and fountain pens. Gissing’s Ryecroft preferred books to food, a
great book as a gift can provide sustenance that no other gift can. A fountain pen reminds us of the power of writing,
allows the writer to engage in his or her craft with a closeness unmatched by a
keyboard or ballpoint, and is a novel and exceedingly pleasurable gift for
anyone. Here are some gifts with a point
you might want to consider:
1-André Gushurst-Moore’s The
Common Mind (Angelico Press,
2013) provides an elegantly written and philosophically convincing
survey of the worldview Burke inherited and that he helped transmit to
posterity. The common mind, or Christian
humanism, is understood from both the perspective of a philosophical
inheritance and as a perpetual challenge to contemporary life as well; as a social
and political tradition dependent on the ennobling of the good, the true, and
beautiful; and, the exhibition of personal restraint, and an affirmation of the
transcendent nature of existence.
Gushurst-Moore begins his defense of this tradition by engaging in a
process of retrogression, examining the central figures who affirmed the common
mind, beginning with Thomas More and concluding with Russell Kirk.
2-The new edition of Russell Kirk’s Prospects
for Conservatives, the first imprint of ImaginativeConservative Books,
should be on every Christmas list! The tome
contains a new introduction by Dr. Brad Birzer, and a new subtitle. As one who possessed the largest and last
remaining collection of the earlier version of this book, A Program for Conservatives,
and shared the books with his Duke Divinity School colleagues in the early
1980s (much to their dismay), this
republication is an event of great and enduring importance. (For the record, I gave the remaining hundred
copies of the book that I purchased from a centenarian in California to the
Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal.)
4-If you seek to recover the lost world of prudential political
rhetoric, and a time when statesmen outnumbered politicians, you might want to
take at Patrick
Henry-Onslow Debate: Liberty and Republicanism in American Political Thought
(Lexington Books, 2013). The disputed
election of 1824 was one of the most important presidential elections in
American history. After an indecisive electoral college vote, the House of
Representatives selected John Quincy Adams as president over the more popular
war hero, Andrew Jackson. As a result, John C. Calhoun ended up serving as
vice-president under Adams. Neither man was comfortable in this situation as
they were political rivals who held philosophically divergent views of American
constitutional governance. The emerging personal and philosophical dispute
between President Adams and Vice-President Calhoun eventually prompted the two
men to take up their pens, using the pseudonyms “Patrick Henry” and “Onslow,”
in a public debate over the nature of power and liberty in a constitutional
republic. The great debate thus arrayed Calhoun’s Jeffersonian republican
vision of constitutionally restrained power and local autonomy against Adams’s
neo-Federalist republican vision which called for the positive use of inherent
power—a view that would become increasingly compelling to future generations of
Americans. In the course of this exchange some of the most salient issues
within American politics and liberty are debated, including the nature of
political order, democracy, and the diffusion of political power. The level of
erudition and insight is remarkable.
5. The Noble Fountain Pen. My most
pointed recommendation concerns the gift of a fountain pen during this holy
season. I prefer vintage pens,
especially the old American varieties, Sheaffer, Waterman, and Parker among many
others. There are many traditional pen
stores throughout the country that deserve commendation, and one of the best
kept secrets in the Southeast is Joe Rodgers
Office Supply in Cleveland, Tennessee, in the Chattanooga suburbs. The owner, Greg Serum, offers the best supply
of fountain pens and supplies you will encounter. On-line sites worth visiting include:
Penhero.com has an encyclopedic list of pen-related links as well that
are of great assistance to anyone interesting in fine writing instruments: http://penhero.com/PenBookmarks.htm.
