Category Archives: Books

Dovetailing Dreher and Smith

Posted on March 16, 2017 by awtraughber

The last couple of weeks have brought a number of reactions to Rod Dreher’s eagerly-awaited book on conservative Christians in contemporary culture, The Benedict Option.  For many, it’s been an interesting litmus test for where particular “personalities” in the Christian … Continue reading →

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A Different Kind of Fellowship

Posted on March 14, 2017 by awtraughber

This first trailer for next week’s Legends of Tomorrow doesn’t give away much.  After traveling to the moon, the team looks to be heading back to World War I as they pursue the  Spear of Destiny.  What we don’t yet … Continue reading →

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The Road to Lent (Begins Atop a Mountain)

Posted on February 27, 2017 by awtraughber

The season of Lent is almost upon us.  The season of fasting in order to prepare for the joy of Easter follows Ash Wednesday, a day where ashes are imposed on a believer’s forehead with the words “Remember that you … Continue reading →

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Anticipation and Participation

Posted on February 20, 2017 by awtraughber

For years I was taught to see the kingdom of God as that which is now-but-not-yet.  It’s one of those teachings with tension, pointing to a reality as frustrating as it is fulfilling.  One of the best articulators of this … Continue reading →

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The Circle Closes In

Posted on February 9, 2017 by awtraughber

We’re just a few weeks away from the release of the cinematic take on Dave Eggers’s The Circle.  The trailer that dropped today does a great job of capturing the “thriller” feel of the work, I think. Sure, it gives … Continue reading →

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Being Free in Crazy Times

Posted on January 31, 2017 by awtraughber

There exists a handful of what you might call “magisterial works” that I would like to say that I have read.  Augustine’s City of God (working on it), MacIntyre’s After Virtue, DFW’s Infinite Jest, Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age all … Continue reading →

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Habit, Addiction, and the New Year

Posted on January 5, 2017 by awtraughber

The best sermon I heard this year made good use of You Are What You Love, the book by James K. A. Smith about the power of habit in the life of faith.  The sermon also made connection to one … Continue reading →

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The Last of 2016

Posted on December 31, 2016 by awtraughber

And so ends a year that our culture has anthropomorphized for the last couple of months.  Thought I’d end a year in posts with something other than a “best-of” list (though I would like to get around to that at … Continue reading →

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Time and Voice

Posted on December 29, 2016 by awtraughber

I have some friends expecting their first child in April.  For Christmas, I bought them a copy of Anthony Esolen’s Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.  I was so intrigued by the premise that I bought myself a … Continue reading →

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2016 and Questions of Habit, Routine, and Ritual

Posted on December 27, 2016 by awtraughber

I suppose the book that most shaped 2016 for me was James K. A. Smith’s You Are What You Love.  The book, which dropped in the spring, was a recapitulation of Smith’s earlier work on “cultural liturgies” with more practical … Continue reading →

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