Articles of the Week - November 24

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I kept a handful of articles on that very subject, so I will begin there this week:

• Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition responds to some common myths of Thanksgiving.
• "Jordan" of gaysubtlety provides his very moving list of things for which he is thankful.
• The Heritage Foundation offers the text of Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, Rachel Sheffield's reflections on why we should be thankful for families (I especially appreciate and agree with the points on the value of a stable, two-married-parent-household for child development), and Rich Tucker's reflections on the American distinctives that are still strong even in an age of partisanship.
• Leonard Pitts, Jr., writing for the Chicago Tribune, uses Lincoln's circumstances to draw a parallel and a challenge for our own times.

Turning to faith and theology:

• For Christianity Today, Carolyn Arends provides one of the best (concise) "answers" to the origins question I have ever read, Melissa Steffan summarizes the variety of faith-based organizations taking legal action against the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and Wilfred McClay offers a thorough defense of religion's place in the public square - and concludes with a brief discussion of the place of religion in Western society (this was CT's November cover story).
• For The Gospel Coalition, Will Bankston reflects on God's common grace and its necessary effect on cultural engagement and Josh Stahley examines the biblical distinction between salvation and baptism.
• Continuing the devotional series on Ecclesiastes, Ray Pritchard issues a 21-day prayer challenge.

A couple items on education:

• The editorial board of the Chicago Tribune offers some suggestions (more like reminders) for reforming education in Illinois.
• Alan Jacobs, writing for The American Conservative, ponders the effects of the regulatory state on education (not a new issue, by any means, but this piece reminded me of it).

And finally, arts and entertainment.

• Ratzo B. Harris writes for New Music Box about the ubiquity of improvisation and the fundamental problem with notating music.
• Taylor Coe of Pop Matters discusses at length the identity of folk music.
• The Economist's Prospero looks at Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, the record holder for longest continuous run of any stage play.
• Steve Paul of The Kansas City Star outlines the recent successes of the Kansas City Symphony.
• Kyle MacMillan of the Chicago Sun-Times reports on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's work to record the John Williams soundtrack for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

By the way, next Saturday, I will begin my second annual Christmas Music Advent Calendar!

What articles or blogs caught your attention this week? Share a link in the comments section below!