Just as the wind graces your face.May you be this gracious with yourself. The tides are not what they used to be.They move with a strong current. Whiplash Never hurt like this. The tide is forcing you to stay here.To look and see the crashing waves.And acknowledge the sea sickness they may provide.To acknowledge that …
Author Archives: therese.joffre
Promoting Flourishing Through Proven Practices
How Credible Messenger Mentoring Incorporates Public Justice and Social Science This article originally appeared on Shared Justice, an initiative of the Center for Public Justice, on March 29, 2022. This article was a part of Shared Justice’s Transformative Justice series. The series explores one of the most urgent areas for reform within the juvenile justice …
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Faith and the Degradation of Society in “Love among the Ruins” and “The Second Coming”
Empires rise and fall. During the 19th century, the British Empire was the largest and most powerful political and economic superpower in the world, earning the saying, “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” Other nations looked to England for guidance on progressive reforms and economic trends, such as industrialization, the abolition of slavery, …
Ringed by Memory
I grew up in Holland on East 17th Street, not far from Columbia Avenue One Stop. My friends and I would often go in there, and one of us would distract the cashier while another would drop to his hands and knees and scrounge for loose change that had fallen under the counter. Across the …
Editor’s Note
Though we established no formal theme for the present volume, an attentive reader might notice several of the following pieces engaging in various ways with challenges of faith. Amidst personal doubt, disagreement in the Church, and religious pluralism across the globe, faith in Christ and knowledge of him can be difficult to establish and sustain. …
REFLECTION: Therese Joffre – Website and Marketing Managers
The intersectionality between faith and scholarship is an idea that has been debated for decades. Despite the evolution of both throughout time, they have continued to come at odds with one another. Regardless of this ongoing conflict, I believe that these two ideas can coexist, and even be intertwined, where both ideas coalesce as we …
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REFLECTION: Aidan Charron – Fine Arts Editor
Ever since the late modern era and especially into postmodernity, fine art has seen a decided shift in subject matter, away from explicitly Christian principles of art. Whether it’s a screen printing of a soup can (I am still partial to[Andy Warhol], being a fellow Pittsburgh native), or songs about Jeffrey Bezos, fine art has …
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REFLECTION: Ava Arendt – Humanities Editor
I believe in The Bell Tower because my mother believed in me. And more than that, she believed that through our imperfect and broken learning, we were connecting ourselves to the grand mystery and adventure of the world: a story that demands our attention, captivates our hearts, and cultivates our affections. I was homeschooled, and …
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REFLECTION: Margaret Boyce – Social Sciences Editor
The field of social science is as divided as an academic field can be. True science must compete with the ever-growing menace of pseudo-science for attention and time in the media. Scientists debate endlessly as to whether qualitative or quantitative research suits the field better. In the political world, politicians seek out studies with ideologically …
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REFLECTION: Sarah Stevenson – Natural Sciences Editor and Photographer
“All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD.”1 What an honor it has been to be a part of The Bell Tower, a publication that seeks to worship God through his works. Specifically, The Bell Tower provides an outlet for his works – the students of Hope – to relay the Lord’s creative, …
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