I just finished the book (https://www.amazon.com/Benedict-Opti...rstthings20-20) and would recommend it to anyone striving to live as a Christian in today’s society. The author Rob Dreher gives a lot of food for thought about how our society got to the point we are at and how using the Benedictine Rule as a guide for living could be beneficial. Dreher paints a pretty dark picture of society today which many disagree with, but there is plenty of food for thought in the book whether you agree with it or not. I am more of an optimist normally but as a father of a young son I am much more concerned about our public education today than I was when my older children attended. Dreher offers several different approaches to education, and I think the chapter about dealing with it is worth the read for anyone that has youngsters. He also harps pretty harshly on technology, which I am using to write and you are using to read this. I don’t necessarily agree that the technology itself is the problem but more so the extreme use of it. This is not a new problem, cell phones of today have taken the place of what the TVs did in the late 20th century, took our minds and our time away from the things that were most important, namely our relationship with God and with each other. Again, I think it’s worth the time to read. There are plenty of reviews for and against on the Amazon site and here is another good review of the work. https://www.firstthings.com/web-excl...-good-creation

My favorite line from the book. "The man whose desires are under the control of his reason is free. The man who does whatever occurs to him is a slave. "