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Category Archives: Commonplace Book
In the Backpack
Frederick Buechner starts The Alphabet of Grace, his theological “slice of life” book, with this wonderfully true assertion: At its heart most theology, like most fiction, is essentially autobiographical. Aquinas, Calvin, Barth, Tillich, working out their systems in their own … Continue reading
Anselm on Teaching, Seeking, Desiring
We introduce Anselm and his version of the ontological argument for God’s existence relatively early in our junior Bible class. Sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn’t; we consider it as much because it was the first of its kind as … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Commonplace Book, Faith, Teaching
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Returning to Psalm 16
Yesterday’s readings in the Daily Office brought me back around to Psalm 16. If I didn’t already use the first part of Psalm 27 on test days in class, I’d probably start using chunks of this one. It “works” on … Continue reading
Posted in Commonplace Book, Scripture, Teaching
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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
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“I’ve Got a Feeling”
In the spring of 1921, some eight years before his conversion to Christianity, C. S. Lewis said this about death: I have seen death fairly often and never yet been able to find it anything but extraordinary and rather incredible. … Continue reading
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“We Want to Play the Music”
As the year comes to an end, I find myself with a short stack of articles and essays that I never quite got around to writing about here. One of them was yesterday’s question of religious language through Jonathan Merritt’s … Continue reading
Chesterton and “the World’s Inn”
The season of Christmas continues for many even as others see it as three-days gone. Here’s another Chesterton poem for the season from The Spirit of Christmas. It’s an interesting thought, really, that places the Christ Child at a particular … Continue reading
Reflecting on John
Today many Christians around the world spent time reflecting on the life of John the Evangelist, the apostle who penned a gospel and three letters found in the New Testament. John is a fascinating figure on multiple levels, particularly with … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Commonplace Book, Faith, Friendship, Life in the Fifth Act
Tagged Donald Miller
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Season’s Readings: 2018 Edition
One thing I’m trying to do a little more of as I get older is to establish some set “reading patterns” for different parts of the year. Holidays are often geared that way, of course. Then you work in classics … Continue reading
Lewis on Literature
Fall break has broken. It came to an end last night with church, some orange chicken with steamed rice, laundry, and the final pages of C. S. Lewis’s The Discarded Image. The book, Lewis’s attempt at writing a “primer” for … Continue reading
Space Enough, and Time 