Currently Reading:
Flickr Photos
Category Archives: Life in the Fifth Act
Towards a Beautiful, Virtuous Life
Reflections on Mortal Goods by Ephraim Radner, Part Six Much of the first chunk of Ephraim Radner’s Mortal Goods is an attempt to “get the lay of the land.” God gives us life to live, but the days in which … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Scripture, Teaching
Tagged Ephraim Radner
Leave a comment
Maneuvering Metaphors
Reflections on Mortal Goods by Ephraim Radner, Part Five About a month ago, back with The Lord of the Rings was back in the theater, I posted some thoughts about the place of metaphors (a piece also inspired by something … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Organizations and Institutions, Scripture
Tagged Ephraim Radner
Leave a comment
Made in the Midbar
Reflections on Mortal Goods by Ephraim Radner, Part Four One of the first “5-minute finds” that we do in our senior-level class involves the ancient concept of eudaemonia, the term the ancient Greeks used for a good or flourishing life. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Scripture, Teaching
Tagged Ephraim Radner
Leave a comment
Sojourn
Reflections on Mortal Goods by Ephraim Radner, Part Three The third chapter of Ephraim Radner’s Mortal Goods is one that really sings to me. After getting the lay of the land as a place and time for “evil days,” Radner … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Scripture, The Long Story
Tagged Ephraim Radner
Leave a comment
Letters for Evil Days
Reflections on Mortal Goods by Ephraim Radner, Part Two In the last few weeks of my spring course, we use 1 John as our opening Scripture. The letter allows for a number of call-backs to both the Old Testament and … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Scripture, The Long Story
Tagged Ephraim Radner
Leave a comment
Concerning Mortal Goods
Reflections on Mortal Goods by Ephraim Radner, Part One The most unfortunate (but also necessary) cut that Peter Jackson’s team made to the cinematic version of The Lord of the Rings is, without a doubt, the scouring of the Shire. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, The Long Story
Tagged Ephraim Radner, Lord of the Rings
Leave a comment
Pentecost and the Passage of Time
Yesterday was the day of Pentecost in the church calendar, a celebration of the sending of the Spirit 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus. I marked the occasion yesterday with a song, but I want to say one or … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Holidays, Life in the Fifth Act, The Long Story
2 Comments
On Ascension Day
In the Eastertide narrative, today marks Ascension Day, forty days after Jesus’ resurrection and ten days before Pentecost. Erik Varden reflects well on the day in Entering the Twofold Mystery when, using Luke’s account of the moment in the book … Continue reading
Forty-Eight and Four Squares
Today is Birthday 48 for me. Not quite as cool a number as 47, which is prime , or as 49, which only has three factors, but it is what it is. I’m hopeful for a mostly normal day: early … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Music, The Long Story
Tagged Andy Crouch, Easter, Erik Varden, Four Squares, Steven Curtis Chapman
2 Comments
The Deity and the Details
A couple of weeks ago, back in my fifth Lenten reflection using Erik Varden’s The Shattering of Loneliness, I mentioned his use of the church father Irenaeus, particularly his “notion of God and man getting used to each other.” I … Continue reading
Space Enough, and Time 