I could hardly believe it when my wife informed me that the Aunt Jemima brand was being retired amid the recent protests and concern over the perpetuation of racist caricatures in pop culture. The murder of black men and women by the police is an unspeakable tragedy to be sure, an unspeakably horrific injustice representative […]
A Full Grown Man & His Sad Jelly Belly
A confession from Matt Magill: I have a complicated relationship with sugar. It’s really the candy that does me in. The guilty verdict on my perpetual adolescence needs no further evidence than my wicked sweet tooth and embarrassing proclivity to indulge it. No matter how often I throw out “Not today Satan!”, I trend towards […]
A Bar Too High and Too Heavy
I may seem like nothing but an already crotchety almost-thirty-something who has resigned himself to the “armchair analysis” stage of athletic participation. And while that holds more than a modicum of truth (a ruptured ACL and chronic back problems will do that), I also contend that the advent of fitness culture is, indeed, religious, and […]
If Jesus Were a Dietitian
“I was my sickest and loneliest when I appeared my healthiest.” How’s that for an admission? Yet it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Jessica Knoll’s recent op-ed for The NY Times, the provocatively titled “Smash the Wellness Industry.” She describes a somewhat harrowing relationship with food and body that sounds […]
Rest, Delight, and Community: An Interview with Kendall Vanderslice, Author of We Will Feast
Grateful for this interview conducted by Aarik Danielsen, with Kendall Vanderslice: Men and women cannot live by bread alone but, in its breaking, we recognize the one who gives us life. We bring nothing to the table of Jesus, yet he graciously offers us all the abundance he shares with the Father and Spirit. Called […]
The Special Waffle: Something Like a Parable
By Nathan F. Elmore: Occasionally, you get handed the Special Waffle—rectangular pieces of brie topped with thin, crescent-moon slices of Granny Smith apples, drizzled with honey and resting on a modest, square-shaped buttermilk waffle. Without paying for such things. Without any birthright for such things. Without having ordered it or even wanting it. Without deserving […]
What, Me Worry? – A Sermon For Thanksgiving
Very grateful to share this sermon from Paul Walker, Rector at Christ Church in Charlottesville: If there is one thing most human beings are good at, it’s worrying. Even a day set aside to give thanks can become a day set aside for extra worry. Every year, our family has a Wednesday Thanksgiving dinner with another […]
You Don’t Have To Be Grateful
We have reached halftime in the holiday season sprint from Halloween to Christmas: Thanksgiving. The least commercialized of all American holidays, Thanksgiving stands apart as a holiday focused not on gift-giving or material consumption, but on gratitude. Problematic history aside, Thanksgiving presents an opportunity to gather with family and friends and reflect on all the […]
