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Category Archives: The Long Story
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
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Lord of the Metaphors?
It’s been a Lord of the Rings weekend here, as the Cannery has been playing the extended versions of the trilogy one per day. And while I have thoughts on watching the series again, I think the timing of the … Continue reading
Mortal (and Immortal) Goods
Tonight is the season finale of Survivor which, for all intents and purposes, marks the end of the 2023-2024 television season. Summer television is less an odd duck than it used to be, since reruns are mostly a thing of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, The Long Story
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Freedom and Faithfulness Revisited
Back in April, I posted a longer entry that included a four-square consideration of freedom and faithfulness. I’d meant to revisit the topic later, but not this later (over a month later). Even though I didn’t write about it, though, … Continue reading
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
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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
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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
Getting Somewhere Together
Besides the song that I shared yesterday, there’s been one other song that’s been on my mind. And it’s a song that has been around for most of my life. I remember when Tracy Chapman won a Grammy for “Fast … Continue reading
Posted in Music, The Long Story
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“Where My Feet Are”
I discovered this recently recorded song by Andrew Peterson thanks to the comments section for this article from Mockingbird. A few years ago, I started encouraging our students with “wherever you are, be all there,” especially if we were at … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Life in the Fifth Act, Music, Teaching, The Long Story
Tagged Andrew Peterson
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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
