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Select a Month February 2019 November 2018 October 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

June 2017

June 23, 2017

How do you “make a culture”?

A few years back there was a flash of enthusiasm among people who read books...

June 06, 2017

Flannery O’Connor and the Meaning of the World

I've been reading essays from Flannery O'Connor's occasional prose. Since I write fiction, I'm interested...

April 2017

April 20, 2017

Re-enchanting Male & Female

We're in a bad way, but we may be coming to the end of it....

March 2017

March 24, 2017

Return to Fruitfulness, that’s an Order

By their fruits you shall know them. Matthew 7:16 The hermeneutics of suspicion have made...

March 07, 2017

Bombadil at Home

When it comes to what the Bible means by taking dominion Tom Bombadil comes to...

January 2017

January 26, 2017

Feminism, the Women’s March, and Aesthetics

The other day I stumbled across a post by a fellow Patheos blogger entitled, The...

January 24, 2017

I Am Weary of the World-Weariness of the Unaccomplished

The best way to avoid disappointment is to not even try. Life is struggle. Jacob...

December 2016

December 14, 2016

Why Western Christianity is Effeminate, Part 1

I'm in the midst of a flurry of last minute edits to my manuscript, Man...

November 2016

November 15, 2016

Fish Stories: Is Fiction Just a Well-told Lie?

One of my favorite films--definitely in the top 5--is Tim Burton's, Big Fish. The story...

November 01, 2016

Tolkien’s Leaf by Niggle: What Will Become of Our Work?

Leaf by Niggle is a personal favorite. It's right up there with Smith of Wootton...

September 2016

September 27, 2016

Getting Published is Easy, Getting Read Is the Tough Thing

Karl Marx, among the absurd things he said (some things were pretty sound, but I'm...

September 14, 2016

I Like It When a Children’s Book Scares Me a Little

I'm nearly done writing the text for a children's picture book. It's called Daisy (at...

September 12, 2016

The Economics of Love

The words love and economy rarely find their ways into the same sentence. Economics has been called the dismal science but...

September 09, 2016

How to Tell a Story Like an Inkling

Chapter One: Kick the Allegory Habit (Editorial note: this puts my last four posts on...

September 06, 2016

And Now, in Conclusion: How to End a Story

"Have the courage to conclude." (Don't recall where I read that, but it's good advice.)...

September 02, 2016

Tales of the Sublime: They aren’t Safe, but They Can be Good

G. K. Chesterton once spoke of nature as our "little sister" and C. S. Lewis...

August 2016

August 31, 2016

How to Tell a Meaningful Story without Preaching It

The movie mogul Sam Goldwyn once said, "If you want to send a message, use...

August 29, 2016

How to Tell a Story: a Primer for Preachers

(Note: this is the first in a series of forays on the subject of preachers...

August 26, 2016

If you like folk music, you may like this: ChurchFolk!

In my last post I spoke about taking one of my sons to college. Well,...

July 2016

July 07, 2016

Just What IS Science Good For Anyway?

Last week I created a little dust up with this provocative post. I knew what...

June 2016

June 28, 2016

Is the Scientific Method a Form of Mental Illness?

I had thought of naming this post: Science and the Quotidian Mind, but I was...

June 01, 2016

Calvinism and the Sublime: the Art of Darkness

I suspect that both the apologists for Calvinism and its detractors misunderstand its appeal. It...

May 2016

May 27, 2016

Front Porches: What Makes for a Good One?

Well, I'm heading down to Baltimore for the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Philosophy...

May 23, 2016

Why Beer Commercials Are the Best and What That Says about Creativity

I actually had a Dos Equis for no other reason than The Most Interesting Man...

May 16, 2016

Some Thoughts on the Art of Preaching: Why We Miss Narrative Threads

A retired pastor complimented me on my preaching yesterday. He expressed amazement at my approach,...

May 13, 2016

How about a “Bombadil Option”?

“Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots...

May 02, 2016

Thinking about Sex

Sexual desire is a swamp. There's no firm ground to stand on in psychology, biochemistry...

April 2016

April 27, 2016

Writing Good Character

I've had a small measure of success writing fiction for young adults. What I mean...

April 21, 2016

What Inside Out Managed to Leave Out

My latest contribution to my favorite magazine is available online. The magazine is Touchstone, and...

April 11, 2016

Thoughts on Writing Epigrams

I'm working my way through Eric Hoffer's, The True Believer. It's a marvelous book, full...