"The Cultivation of Christmas Trees", T.S. Eliot, 1954 There are several attitudes towards Christmas, Some of which we may disregard: The social, the torpid, the patently commercial, The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight), And the childish - which is not that of the child For whom the candle is a star, and the... Continue Reading →
Of all the books I read in college one of the most valuable and one of the few that I still find myself returning to regularly is Dorothy Sayers' The Man Born to Be King, a cycle of twelve plays about the life Christ that was written and produced for BBC radio during World War II. If... Continue Reading →
I have been reading Henri Nouwen's excellent little book The Return of the Prodigal Son this summer and have found myself delighted and moved by the story of his encounter with Rembrandt's famous painting and the parable it depicts. One of the many passages in the book that I have had stuck in my mind... Continue Reading →
Turning on Kendrick Lamar’s most recent album DAMN. is like tuning into a boxing match. You don’t just listen to single songs; you experience the different rounds of a fight where Kendrick and his demons pummel each other. . .
As promised, here is our playlist for summer 2017. Many of the tracks are connected to our overarching purpose here in some way, shape, or form, but some are just great tunes that we stumbled across in various places. Happy jamming! From our hearts to yours, via your favorite pair of headphones.
Just a quick post here to relay some of what's been going on lately! Summer has brought some exciting life changes with it, so first a report on those. Sam is going to be starting grad school at Penn State in the fall, so he and his wife Hannah have moved from the bustling metropolis... Continue Reading →
We're back with round two of our soundtrack series, this time with a song from an artist that I feel like I discovered all too late – or at least too late to appreciate while he was still living. The first time I can recall consciously hearing and enjoying one of David Bowie's songs... Continue Reading →
Among Protestants in America, there seems to be two dominant trends regarding the way we think about the season of Lent. One tendency is to see it as a great opportunity for spiritual gymnastics, a time to one up each other in virtuosic displays of staggering self-denial (no chocolate! no booze!) that end up being... Continue Reading →
The Old Testament prepares us for Christmas morning. All of it. And the New Testament opens with a genealogy (Matt. 1:1–17) that rings with significance for our lives. Jesus’s family tree isn’t simply a list of names to skim over to get to the “substance” of the gospel, nor is the story of Israel that comes before it [...]
This one comes from our dear friend, Jimmy Myers: “There’s no hope without afterbirth.” I can remember the first time my undergraduate professor said these words. The classroom, already silent with quiet contemplation of the mysteries of Christology, fell, so it seemed, even quieter. There’s no hope without what? What could he mean? Is “afterbirth”... Continue Reading →
Both/And 