While we are currently at our maximum number of regular contributors, Mockingbird is happy to publish quality writing from guests. To submit something for consideration, simply email it to info@mbird.com. We can’t promise anything, but we will take a look. Naturally, the best way to get a sense of what we are looking for is to read the site.
About Guest Contributor
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Spider-Man: Far From Home Is Fun but Sacrifices Character to Plot Twists and Gags
This review (with spoilers) comes from Jeremiah Lawson: Spider-Man: Far From Home is an enjoyable addition to the Marvel franchise. Tom Holland is winsome as Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and Jake Gyllenhaal is inspired casting for Quentin Beck. By now there’s hardly a need to avoid spoilers for this film, which has been out for […]
The Promise of Scripture “to Come”: Qumran, Derrida, and Unfulfilled Desire, Part 2
Here’s the second part of Caitlin Hubler’s essay. For part one, start here. For too long, conceptions of scriptural authority have become identical with notions of scripture’s immutability and containment. However, as surprising as it might be to modern sensibilities, the scriptural text of late Second Temple Judaism was both open and sacred. Jews living in […]
Dive Bars and the Nazarene
This one was written by Matt Magill. It is good to be inebriated on the cup of God’s salvation. – St. Ambrose I don’t drink much… Err…I don’t drink much in public. My wife and I enjoy lots of wine with friends and even a little too much sometimes, if she can keep me up […]
The Promise of Scripture “to Come”: Qumran, Derrida, and Unfulfilled Desire, Part 1
Thankful for this one from Caitlin Hubler. “The” Old Testament does not exist. That is, there is no one version of the text. Although most of us encounter it in the form of a single, neatly bound book alongside the New, behind this veneer of simplicity lies a complex process of transmission, selection, and reconstruction. […]
Hopelessly Devoted: Against Cynicism
This one comes to us from Kenneth Tanner. I run with cynics. I find them in the church. I find them in bars, coffee houses, and at baseball games, and on the screens we stare at all the time. And the first thing I want to say is that I am at times one myself. […]
Just Another Late Night in Washington, DC
This one comes to us from Jim Moore. Sometimes life in America turns into one giant discourse on the work of the Law and the work of the Gospel. That’s how I felt tonight watching Emma Thompson star in Mindy Kaling’s movie Late Night. The movie revolves around an acerbic, cantankerous late-night comedian who has […]
Toys as Shepherds and Shepherds as Toys: Guiding the Lost in Toy Story 4
Grateful for this one from Jeremiah Lawson. For his insightful commentary on the first three Toy Story films, start here. Warning: spoilers here! Here in 2019 there seems to be an inverse proportion between the number of bids at epic storytelling and the number of successes. After eight seasons and years of commentary, Game of […]
Instagram Planners and the Protestant Work Ethic
This one comes to us from Holly Genovese. I love my Emily Ley Simplified® planner. It’s full of notes, lists, and proof of a busy year. It’s my fourth Simplified® planner, and I have one waiting patiently on my desk for August 1. The planner is well made, the paper is beautiful. It has room […]
Dead to Me: A Dark Comedy of Forgiveness
This one was written by Sam Guthrie. In the Netflix original series, Dead to Me, Judy (Linda Cardellini) helps Jen (Christina Applegate) cope with the sudden loss of her husband, Ted. The two form an unlikely friendship tracking down Jen’s husband’s killer in the pristine landscape of Malibu. Thanks to Liz Feldman, the creator of […]
A Gift on Father’s Day
From Andrew Taylor-Troutman: This Father’s Day, my three children gifted me a bird feeder in the shape of a log cabin. Now, as they joyfully run amok in the playroom, I am reflecting on the gifts of fatherhood itself. Fatherhood has taught me that children are actually verbs. Also, that Legos multiply through their own […]
The Writing on the Bag (Paper, Plastic, or Shame?)
This one comes to us from Blake Nail. The box of Cookie Crisp taunts you as you reach for the Grape Nuts and sigh. You travel over to aisle 9 where the peanut butter is and realize you should just grab some jelly while you’re at it. Make a stop in aisle 14 for the […]
Let Us (Not) Run the Race
This one was written by Grace Leuenberger. Last month I joined more than 20,000 people on the starting line of the Pittsburgh Marathon and Half Marathon. With about eight minutes before the start of the race, I pushed my way through the masses to the front of Corral A to join the group that would […]
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