Link by link, think by think.
A photographic essay on the Mennonites of Belize. Self-recommending. Does your church have an Amish-style option? If not, why not?
Christopher Alexander on strong centers.
In contemporary buildings, it is often hard to create this hierarchy of centers, perhaps above all because – in practical terms – we don’t know what to put at the center … What function could there be at the center that is important enough to make the building have a series of levels …? … What were once powerful centers – the fire, the marriage bed, the table – no longer have this power, because individually and as families are not centered in ourselves. The emotional confusion of the present-day family reveals itself in the lack of power in these centers of the house.
Your home should have centers. The fire, the marriage bed, the table. Most of all, your family should. A successful family is a generational family, a family that cycles through marriage, children, growth, marriage, children, growth, just like a plant cycles through seed, growth, fruit. It can’t be done if there is no center to the family.
Salena Zito on a multi-generation farm family. A success story. A family farm selling local beef and pork to local customers, living in the original farmstead from the 1840s.