There are things we cannot say. This is a fundamental truth about life. It is not a lesson we learn explicitly, but early in our childhoods we learn that some things are not to be spoken. Social pressure or the desire for social status cause us to keep our mouths shut. We learn that we […]
Say Something
The world is too much with us; late and soon. We are surrounded by suffering. It will follow us until we leave this earth. There is no cure while we are yet here. Grief is coming. To you. To me. To every single one of us. Over and over again, until the end. (I’m as […]
On BS and the Word of Absolution
“What are my initials?” my friend Billy asked in response to my ludicrous comment. The obvious answer—apparent to anyone who knows him—is: “BS!” It’s not that I was spewing lies, though they most certainly weren’t truthful. It’s just that it carried no concern for the truth whatsoever because the statements were given for a different purpose: […]
O No, Captain! My Captain!: On the Suicide of Robin Williams
In the film Dead Poets Society, Neil Perry, a young prep school boy, goes against his father’s wishes and performs in a school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The father blames the boy’s teacher, John Keating (played by Robin Williams) for Neil’s disobedience, demanding Mr. Keating stay out of the boy’s life. In reaction […]
Doubtful Motives and Religious Allurement
In general, attention is a tending of the ego toward an intentional object, toward a unity which “appears” continually in the change of the modes of its givenness and which belongs to the essential structure of a specific act of the ego… it is a tending-toward in realization. The realization which is brought into being […]
Ministry as Leisure, from Comfortable Words
In NYC a couple of weeks ago, we held a reception for Paul Zahl’s Festschrift, Comfortable Words (more details here), edited by Jady Koch and Todd Brewer. The work honors Paul Zahl’s life-giving influence upon academics, pastors, laypeople, and everything in between. Among many extraordinary essays, Dylan Potter’s “Ministry as Leisure” struck a note with its […]
Can God Work in Poetry? Simeon Zahl on Spiritual Experience
From the festschrift honoring Paul Zahl, Comfortable Words, son Simeon Zahl argues convincingly that God may work in any avenue of human life, broadening the Holy Spirit’s arena beyond the traditional Word (preaching, Bible) and sacrament: In Isaiah, we are reminded that “All flesh is grass… The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of […]
The Distinctives, Part I
What could be better on a Friday than Protestant Anglican theology mixing with album titles from a variety of music genres? As you may or may not know, the majority of contributors on this site are of the Low Church Protestant Anglican/Episcopalian variety. And we have the 39 Articles of Religion on our side! Articles […]
Fighting the Law… and Losing
So, it’s winter and I’m depressed. This happens every year. I hate the cold weather, and this year has been especially cold, by Charleston standards anyway. Many of you in the Northeast are sneering about now. Thinking, “That Southern boy has it great! Complaining about temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s — Where does he […]
