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Category Archives: 2017
Unclosed Loop: U2’s Songs of Experience
I’ve been meaning to get something a little more substantial down concerning U2’s most recent release, Songs of Experience. It’s been a rough semester for U2 in my classroom. Each fall for the last few years I’ve played “When I … Continue reading
Unclosed Loops: Life in the Digital Age
Earlier in the year, I had high hopes for “reading along” with Alan Jacobs’s “Living and Thinking in the Digital Age” course at Baylor. I got through a number of the initial handouts and articles (and even purchased and started … Continue reading
Closed on Account of Prettiness?
Well, if that happened to be the metric, I wouldn’t be at school much at all, Calvin . . . Speaking of the weather, it’s been a cold few days here in Tennessee. We’ve had flurries a couple of times: … Continue reading
Posted in 2017, Books, Teaching
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Advent and the Clash of Calendars
Today marks the beginning of the Advent season which, in turn, marks the beginning of what is known as the church calendar. That church calendar is not much of a Baptist thing, is something kept and nurtured by more liturgical … Continue reading
Fall Retreat and Advance
I have to admit, this quick Canadian getaway has been enjoyable. I’d like to think of it as both a retreat and advance: looking back and moving forward. It’s been a good opportunity to enjoy a beautiful place while still … Continue reading
Posted in 2017, Travel
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From Sweetest Thing to the Best Thing
I’m not a big fan of lyric videos, but I’ll make an exception for the first song from U2’s forthcoming album, Songs of Experience. Here’s “You’re the Best Thing About Me.” It’s upbeat with a melancholy undertow. I’m curious to … Continue reading
Temporary Vocational Stretch: August Edition
We just wrapped our third week of the school year (not including a week of meetings). Thanks to a state holiday, this three-day weekend has been something of a “pause” button for me. Most of my class curriculum is turning … Continue reading
Posted in 2017, Teaching, The Long Story
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Drowning in the Tides of History?
At the same time that I’ve been reading various essays by Wendell Berry, I’ve been devouring Douglas Murray’s The Strange Death of Europe. The two read together very well. Both are about citizens and communities and culture. And both were … Continue reading
Posted in 2017, Books
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Temporary Vocational Stretch Update
The 2016-2017 winds down this week. It doesn’t quite feel like it, though. Instead, things are kind of heating up. These last few weeks of the semester have been a blur. Lots of cool moments: baccalaureate, the yearbook dedication (what?!), … Continue reading
Posted in 2017, Faith, The Long Story
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Like Leaving the Piano in Ohio
Douglas Coupland prefaces Bit Rot, his most recent collection of essays and stories, with this: When the pioneers crossed North America from east to west, the first thing to be thrown off the family Conestoga wagon was the piano, somewhere … Continue reading
Posted in 2017, Books, The Long Story
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Space Enough, and Time 