Typically, I abstain from any New Year’s resolutions. I hate diets and everything they stand for. I loathe the notion that December 31st is distinctly different from January 1st. And “self betterment” always seems to end in a profound feeling of “self worse-er-ment” for me. But not this year. This year I have decided to […]
My First Encounter
This reflection comes to us from Stacie Tchividjian. Whether you are a parent or a child, you know there is something special about celebrating the many milestones of children. Maybe you’ve planned birthdays, graduations, or a wedding. Maybe you have parents that celebrated your big and small days and attended every event you participated in, cheering […]
The Loss of Control
Grateful for this powerful reflection by Faith Perry. I wasn’t going to write about this—the scariest part of mental illness. But here it is: an ode to loss of control and how “the system” can contribute to a person’s newfound overwhelming helplessness. I am a nurse in an emergency room. Nighttime falls, and on cue, […]
My Wife Doesn’t Trust Me: How Impossible Law Keeps Two Sinners Together
This reflection was written by S.M. White. My wife doesn’t trust me. At least that’s what she’s told me about half a dozen times over our 27-year marriage. What’s the lack of trust about? She can’t trust that I won’t hurt her again by whatever sin it happens to be next. Over time, as we’ve […]
Not Yet: Serena Williams and Delayed Forgiveness
“I’m sorry.” “I forgive you.” These are two sentences that I find myself constantly demanding of my children…and I find that whether or not they mean them is immaterial. It’s like that great line in Liar Liar when Jim Carrey’s asking his son to recant his wish that his father would be unable to lie. […]
PZ’s Podcast: Transgressive Enough 4 U?, Mountain of Love, Magic, and Too Weak to Fight
EPISODE 260: Transgressive Enough 4 U? Experiencing a massive re-think just now concerning world cinema! This has been occasioned in part by watching every disc one can get one’s hands on of the recently released catalogue of British “Vintage Classics”. Have you ever heard of “Mandy” (1951)? Or “The Captive Heart” (1946)? Or “The Sound Barrier” […]
Divine Amnesia, Cookies, and Ice Cream
Last Saturday, my son accompanied me on my typical weekend errands, and after he patiently endured the tedium of Costco’s packed aisles and long lines, we were finally en route in the Dodge Millennium Falcon to an impromptu father-son lunch date. As we approached our destination, he randomly blurted out, “Dad, remember that time last […]
Culture and the Countercultural Cross – David Zahl
The talk given at the Here We Still Stand conference in San Diego last month, in which I offered up the first full-length taste of my forthcoming book Seculosity (and had a lot of fun in the process). Many thanks to everyone at 1517 for putting it on:
PZ’s Podcast: Revenge of the Creature
EPISODE 259 We’re talking about love today — wouldn’t ya know — and the relation of divine love to romantic love. It’s a familiar topic, but one that remains very fresh, at least as long as human memory and human loss remain conscious. Here is the key line, from a kind of monologue that occurs […]
My Dad, His Dad, Jesus, and His Bride
Last month, my parents celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary…and the occasion caused me to realize that although my dad has never been a religious man in the traditional sense of the word, he was a picture of Jesus and the church, for me. The most succinct way I can say this graciously is that he […]
On the Upcoming Election: The Unexpected God Who Pushes Us Towards One Another
Because I attended an ecumenical seminary, the memories I have from my first few weeks of school involved a great deal of categorization. Who was a Presbyterian? Who was a Methodist? Who was a former Mormon turned United Church of Christ guy? That last one is a real person. He’s an Anglican priest in Canada […]
Stories Told Behind Auden’s Back
The less you know about a person, the easier it is to venerate them, which is why you generally don’t want your children writing your biography. My favorite parts of biographies are not the quotes from the person being written about, but rather from those who knew them well — or — too well. This […]
