It has been forty days since their master turned the world upside by rising from the dead. But now, it appears, the end has come. An end the apostles could not have anticipated, to be sure. As Jesus approaches his departure they are simultaneously heavy and elated. Elated, as Jesus’ mission is at an end […]
I’m a Vampire! I’m a Vampire! I’m a Vampire!
Another year, another Dungeons and Dragons campaign on the books. Fully enveloped within the modern resurgence of the classic fantasy roleplaying game, I’ve been running (“dungeon mastering”) a series of campaigns for my wife and our group of best friends over the past few years. We just wrapped up a six-month campaign where our party […]
The Youngest, Freshest Day of the World: An Exploration of Springtime and Eschatology
The following is a timely excerpt from Robert Farrar Capon’s The Youngest Day, a collection of musings on the four seasons in the light of grace. In this passage, from a section titled “Spring: Judgment,” the author takes a morning run around his home on Shelter Island, NY. One of the pleasures of running, at […]
The Wheel in the Sky Keeps On Turning: Penultimate Thoughts on Game of Thrones' Penultimate Episode
Spoilers ahoy for Game of Thrones fans. Sadly, with the finale arriving Sunday, you are pretty much out of time to jump in and watch all 72 episodes before the show concludes, but there’s something here for the non-GoT community too. Also, like the caveats provided by the AV Club, this is post from a […]
ANNOUNCING: The Youngest Day, by Robert Capon!
When it comes to grace, no one writes with more elegance, humor, and well, grace, than Robert Farrar Capon. Since his first publication hit shelves in 1963, Robert’s voice has served as one of the guiding lights for the Christian faith from generation to generation. Now, in this final book for Mockingbird’s series of Capon […]
Sixty to Zero
In Lyndal Roper’s Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet, the author narrates the moment when Martin, a newly minted Augustinian monk, participated in his first mass as priest (1507). What made this moment especially charged was that his father Hans was present. Hans, you may remember, sacrificed to send his boy to college so that Martin […]
If Christ Be Not Raised
This one comes to us from Kenneth Tanner. On Holy Saturday, The New York Times published an interview with the president of Union Theological Seminary in which she mentioned a Christian “obsession” with the physicality of our Lord’s resurrection. Count me among the obsessed. There are many witnesses in the New Testament, but John’s testimony […]
We Are Always in the Wrong: The Absurd Command, Part 2
Continuing from last week’s first part. Kierkegaard once (indirectly) wrote that it is an edifying thought that “before God we are always in the wrong.” Not because he was an apologist for the perfectionist strain of popular Calvinism (thank God) but because this view recalibrates our lenses to assess what actually is the case. A […]
The In-Between: Sufjan Stevens and the Anticipation of Holy Saturday
Thankful for this reflection from Kelly Reed. I’m not sure what I expected from turning thirty. (I suspected there would at least be a dog in the picture…alas, no). My other friends in their thirties have moved steadily through the phases of adulthood. They’ve developed careers, gone to grad school, taken managerial roles. Single friends […]
How Does the Gospel Work?
“Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates…” – Martin Luther “About a quarter before nine, while [Luther’s commentary] was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, […]
“All Things Are Lawful” for Christian Flesh
“I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked, I am mad for it to be in contact with me.” (Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of Myself 2) My hygiene is deficient, one friend told me. She said I needed to use lotion (she swears by Jergens), on my […]
The Living Christ and the Principle of Grace
An astute reflection by Jared Jones: There is a bustling market for “principles” in the world today. “Timeless truths to live your life by.” “7 Principles of Health.” “376 Different Things to Try in Bed that You’ll Try to Remember for the Next Time You’re in a Relationship Because the Only People Who Pick Up […]
