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Remembrance Part Three
Perhaps the most sobering of Erik Varden’s reflections on remembrance in The Shattering of Loneliness comes in the third chapter. The chapter is centered on Jesus’s command in Luke 17 to “remember Lot’s wife.” The command to remember Lot’s … Continue reading
Reading in Lent
One of the practices I’m trying to hold to during the Lenten season is the reading of shorter books. Small thing, I know, but it feels somehow fitting. The season started as I finished up Zena Hitz’s Philosophers Look at … Continue reading
Remembrance Part Two.Five
Last week as I was thinking the second thing to remember from Erik Varden (remember you were once a slave in Egypt), a song from long ago came to mind. A bit of context from an odd source first, though. … Continue reading
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Remembrance Part Two
For me, most Lenten seasons start with the “bang” of Ash Wednesday but quickly fall into a slough of messy hopes and habits. That’s a cost of being interested in the church calendar as a member of a church that … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Scripture
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Remembrance Part One
Erik Varden’s The Shattering of Loneliness begins with a Lenten reflection. The book consists of six pieces, with each piece focusing on a different truth that Christians are called to remember. The first ties into Ash Wednesday: remember you are … Continue reading
On Ash Wednesday
The first section of T. S. Eliot’s “Ash Wednesday” in honor of the day and the beginning of the Lenten season. Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Commonplace Book, Faith
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Waiting for the God Who is Already Here
Once again, Advent is coming to an end and I feel like I didn’t quite do it right. That’s mostly normal for me. This year I had hoped to blog my way through one of my favorite books in 2023: … Continue reading
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Advent as a Time for Waiting
Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent. I’ve been writing about Advent off and on for over a decade, which points towards how resonant the idea of Advent is for me (particularly since I’m not a member of a liturgical … Continue reading
“Made for People” Redux
Back in August I wrote a few posts about Justin Whitmel Earley’s Made for People. I enjoyed the book so much that I did a short seminar on it for some students at school a few weeks ago. Instead of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Friendship, Life in the Fifth Act, Teaching
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“Full of a Beautiful Gloom”
I’m not totally sure what to make of this recent Plough essay by Clare Coffey, but I know that I like a lot of it. In the piece, Coffey tries to tackle the weird “vibe” that takes us through autumn, … Continue reading
Space Enough, and Time 