Walter Russell Mead’s Yule Blog has been a Christmas tradition since The American Interest’s “Via Meadia” blog first published it for the 2009–10 Christmastide. This wonderful, if sometimes laid-aside, season in the Christian calendar runs from Christmas Eve to Epiphany (January 6). Mead’s “Twelvetide” reflections have shepherded many into remembering not just the history but the meaning of Christmas and the Yuletide season.
Providence is thrilled to host the Yule Blog. Such excitement is appropriate. As Walter writes, “Christianity is the living force behind American liberal ideology as well as American conservativism.”
Providence understands that as we let go of the meaning of Christmas, we deracinate ourselves from our collective memory of Christendom, and thereby such virtues as “humility, forbearance, honesty, and tolerance begin to fade from our common life.” The loss of such Christian memory bodes ill for our republic, and what bodes ill for our republic bodes ill for the world.
May these Yuletide reflections be a rock against such forgetfulness and a goad to the quickening of faith, hope, and love—both at home and far abroad. Merry Christmas!
Christmas is important to Christians because from their point of view the Baby Jesus is the meaning of Christmas, and the meaning of Christmas is the meaning of life.
Walter Russell MeadJanuary 6, 2024
History turned a corner with the birth of Jesus Christ, and while the written reports of that event don’t tell…
Walter Russell MeadJanuary 5, 2024
If we leave religion out of our national conversation, we end up with a vapid conversation that doesn’t address the…
Walter Russell MeadJanuary 4, 2024
To get any insight at all into what Jesus’ childhood and upbringing were like, you have to do something that…
Walter Russell MeadJanuary 3, 2024
The flawed human race, trapped in a cycle of cascading pain and wrong, is what and who God is bound…
Walter Russell MeadJanuary 2, 2024
The Christmas story suggests that we can somehow try to be loyal members of our nations, our families, our tribes—and…
Walter Russell MeadJanuary 1, 2024
Now it gets tough. Yesterday’s post at the Yule Blog looked at what divides Christians and other theists from atheists; today…
Walter Russell MeadDecember 31, 2023
Yesterday, the Yule Blog featured an essay about how theists and atheists are not all that different from each other;…
Walter Russell MeadDecember 30, 2023
Happy fifth day of Christmas, and welcome back to the 2023-2024 Yule Blog, where we aim to keep the holiday…
Walter Russell MeadDecember 29, 2023