Currently Reading:
Flickr Photos
Author Archives: awtraughber
Timing is Everything
Every spring in my Old Testament class I look forward to getting to the book of Ecclesiastes. On some level, the book upends some of my students’ expectation that everything in the Bible is particularly cheery. But I also like … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Teaching
Leave a comment
Counting Ordinary Time
This past Sunday Christian churches of the more liturgical bent entered into something known as ordinary time. Robert Webber explains: The period between Pentecost and the beginning of Advent is called ordinary time. By contrast the period through Advent, Christmas, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, The Long Story
Leave a comment
Where Joy Writes the Songs (and the innocent sing them)
It’s been a week since I said goodbye to my last class, but it feels like I’ve spent just as much time doing school stuff as ever. I’ve been meaning to get a few things posted that aren’t just comics … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Internet, Music, Teaching
Leave a comment
Unintended Isolation (and the potential for friendship)
Being a single guy living on one of the most remote land-masses on the planet, I know the importance of relationships. I’m not always good at them. but I’ve always felt something significant and necessary with friendship. You get that … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, Internet
Leave a comment
Innocence, Experience, and the Changing Musical Landscape
The folks at Grantland have posted a quality article on U2 after the kick-off of their Innocence + Experience tour. It’s thoughtful and honest, asking some of the questions that fans and critics alike cannot help but ask as the … Continue reading
Tolkien Treasure Trove
So it turns out that there’s this website called the Tolkien Gateway, and it links to all kinds of interesting and amazing things. The trove includes over 100 drawings by Tolkien, many based on Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Here’s one of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Internet
Leave a comment
Not Marvin the Martian
A few months ago I finally read Andrew Weir’s The Martian. Since then, it’s become the work of fiction that I’ve recommended the most. It’s the simple story of a man abandoned on Mars. And it was utterly enthralling. Ridley … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Leave a comment
Preemptive Emotional Processing
I have spent much of the last few months feeling about Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out much the same way I initially felt about Monsters, Inc: total disinterest. I remember well seeing MI‘s first teaser and thinking that the concept, what little … Continue reading
Posted in Internet, Movies
Leave a comment
Pentecost Makes It Personal
This is the day Christians around the world celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Peter Leithart recently posted an “exhortation” for the day that sums so many wonderful things. He begins the piece with a simple but … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Internet
Leave a comment
Simple Sentence, Simple Prayer
Eugene Peterson once said that talking about God is often the total of opposite of talking to Him, which can make teaching the Bible a tricky proposition. Replacing the former for the latter is a subtle and constant possibility. A … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Internet, Music
Leave a comment
Space Enough, and Time 