Check out these recent articles from around the web:

The Word Made Toddler by Timothy O’Malley: “But what makes walking with my son so utterly slow is his total absorption in every facet of reality. Leaves are not merely to be walked upon but inspected as if every one of them is the very first leaf that has come into existence. The water of a creek is no mere accoutrement to the stroll but a living reality that must be sufficiently contemplated. Lamps are not instruments to light the way along a dark path but stunning artistic creations that all humanity should praise. A tunnel is not simply a way to walk under a bridge but an echo chamber that manifests to the world the wonderful possibilities of sound. To walk a hundred yards with a toddler is an hour long event, full of side excursions that transfigure a utilitarian journey into a meditation upon creation itself.”

The tyranny you haven’t heard of by Fred Hiatt: “The country is Uzbekistan, one of the Central Asian nations that emerged out of the wreckage of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has brought some unique touches to the conduct of a dictatorship. When political prisoners have served their full terms, they often have their sentences extended for violations such as improperly peeling carrots in the prison kitchen or failing to sweep their cells correctly. At harvest time, millions of students, teachers and other workers are temporarily enslaved to pick cotton to the profit of the regime. It has been known to boil its prisoners alive.”

The quieting, mystical experience of Taizé prayer by Margery Eagan: “Surprisingly, the Taizé community has also brought together young people — teens to 30-somethings — not the age that typically flocks to church, any church. But flock they do to the Taizé community, which claims 100,000 young pilgrims every year. They work, farm, cook, and pray together three times per day in the Taizé style.”

Abusing Chickens We Eat by Nicholas Kristof: “Big Ag has been stunningly successful in producing cheap food — the price of chicken has fallen by three-quarters in real terms since 1930. Yet there are huge external costs, such as antibiotic resistance and water pollution, as well as a routine cruelty that we tolerate only because it is mostly hidden.”

Dietrich von Hildebrand and Our Relativistic Age by Fr. Robert Barron: “From 1933 to 1938, he continued vocally to oppose Hitler, founding and editing an anti-Nazi journal that so infuriated Hitler that the Fuhrer referred to Hildebrand as his ‘number one enemy.’  When the German annexation of Austria took place, Hildebrand was aggressively sought by the Gestapo and narrowly escaped with his life, eventually settling in New York, where he became professor of philosophy at Fordham University.”

Sudan embraces genocide, terrorism — and Iran by Eric Reeves: “In rebellious South Kordofan, according to the minutes, the government’s strategy is to “starve” (a translation of the Arabic) the civilian population by ensuring that it can’t harvest this year’s crops and thus support rebels near the border with South Sudan.”

Pining for Advent: How a Christmas tree can get you in the holiday spirit by Gina Ciliberto: “Once everyone was in bed and my house was dark, I would switch on the twinkling lights and admire the tannenbaum, inhaling moments of silence. One year, after a serious relationship ended, sitting in front of the tree brought peace. When my grandfather died, spending time in front of the tree quieted my aching heart. Just as lighting the candles on the Advent wreath refocuses our hearts on Christ during Mass, sitting in front of the tree granted me time to intentionally let go and be with God.”

Midterms deliver verdict of dissatisfaction by Michael Sean Winters: “Instead of addressing bread-and-butter economic issues, Democrats have now embraced the kind of culture war issues that animated the religious right two and three decades ago. It did not work for the GOP and it won’t work for the Democrats either.”

What’s Stopping Young Adults from Forming Stable Families, Part 2 by David Lapp: “Here is another way to think about it: particularly for young adults from fragmented families—whose lives have been marked by instability, and in some cases trauma—erratic work schedules and part-time hours and low pay only heighten the unpredictability and lack of structure in their lives. If more corporations were serious about providing their employees a wage that enabled them to provide for their families and to put some aside for savings, more young adults could begin laying the foundations of structure that they want and need. It wouldn’t be a panacea, but it could help.”

White Catholic Climate Denial is a Crisis Waiting to Happen by Nathan Schneider: “Pope Francis is preparing to release an encyclical on climate change in the coming year. It’s about to get far less easy to sit respectably in the pews while ignoring the science and the mounting cost of the carbon economy for vulnerable communities and the natural order. For those holding out in the denialist reverie, now might be a good time to consider waking up.”

Be intentional, be prayerful, be humble: Three steps to a more grateful life by Mary DeTurris Poust: “Gratitude has that kind of power, not just in prayer, but in the most ordinary moments of our lives. When we are thankful, grateful and appreciative of what we have — even the things that don’t necessarily warrant a special thank-you prayer — we tend to be more generous, loving, patient and kind toward others.”

The Case for Christian Humanism by Tim Muldoon: “Their irenic approach emphasizes that the goal is not criticism of atheists per se, but rather to show that Christianity offers an intellectual tradition from which an authentic humanism can grow and thrive–and that Christians themselves must consciously appropriate.”