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Select a Category A. G. Harmon Alissa Wilkinson Allison Backous Art Authors Brad Fruhauff Bradford Winters Bryan Bliss Caroline Langston Chad Thomas Johnston Chris Hoke Christiana N. Peterson Culture D.G. Myers D.L. Mayfield Daniel Bowman Jr. David Griffith Elizabeth Duffy Faith Film Greg Wolfe Guest Contributor Interview Jan Vallone Jeffrey Overstreet Jessica Eddings-Roeser Jessica Mesman Griffith Kelly Foster Lindsey Crittenden Morgan Meis music Natalie Vestin Nick Olson Peggy Rosenthal Personal Reflection Poetry Friday Reflection Relationships Review Richard Chess Richard Cole Sara Zarr Shannon Huffman Polson Sonya Bilocerkowycz Tania Runyan Tony Woodlief Topical Categories Uncategorized Vic Sizemore Writing

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 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 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

September 2018

September 19, 2018

Leonard Cohen’s Holy and Broken Hallelujah

My first “Hallelujah” was sung by Rufus Wainwright in Shrek. I was a preteen and...

August 2018

August 13, 2018

A Conversation with Welcome Wagon’s Vito Aiuto, Part 3

The Welcome Wagon’s Vito and Monique Aiuto released their first album, Welcome to the Welcome...

August 08, 2018

A Conversation with Welcome Wagon’s Vito Aiuto, Part 1

After years of holding intimate hymn-singing gatherings in their living room, Reverend Vito and Monique...

March 2018

March 27, 2018

Training the Ear of My Heart

I don’t live a very active life, though observers might deduce that I am always...

March 23, 2018

Poetry Friday: “Being the Song”

If you write poetry, odds are you don’t expect your work to achieve acclaim like...

January 2018

January 19, 2018

Poetry Friday: “The Music before the Music”

It is often hard to find the language to describe the sounds and impact of...

December 2017

December 29, 2017

Listening to My Life: 17 Listens for 2017

First, a note: I think this might be the last time I do this. If...

November 2017

November 27, 2017

The Chopin Stitch

In a recent New York Times interview, pianist Steven Osborne discussed the strange experience of...

September 2017

September 07, 2017

Still on the Line

I will not claim credit for many things, but one virtue I own is that...

September 05, 2017

Dark Forest on Fire

"We've got five years, that's all we've got," sang Ziggy Stardust forty-five years ago. Did...

August 2017

August 10, 2017

Guns N’ Roses in This Lifetime

The first time I encountered Guns N’ Roses, it was a flag hanging on the...

June 2017

June 15, 2017

A Prayer for Kendrick Lamar

It occurs to me each time I listen to Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Damn: The award winning...

June 09, 2017

Sufjan Stevens’ Planetarium in Paradise

By Adam Tyler Horn When Dante finally sees Beatrice near the end of the Purgatorio, he...

May 2017

May 26, 2017

Poetry Friday: “The Key”

I love this poem for its exuberance. The fat bee, “big as a blackberry,” bumping...

February 2017

February 16, 2017

Epiphany in the Memory Unit

By Cameron Dezen Hammon. The priest’s wife handed me her half full can of beer....

January 2017

January 04, 2017

A Song of Songs for These American Days

With thanks and apologies to the Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Emily Dickinson, Neil Young, Wallace Stevens,...

December 2016

December 29, 2016

Quaecumque Vera: 16 Songs for 2016

By Joel Heng Hartse You do not have to feel guilty about loving music. Please...

December 27, 2016

ImageUpdate’s Top Ten of 2016

Every week, the Image staff curates a digital dispatch of compelling new books, music, artwork,...

September 2016

September 29, 2016

A Conversation with Claire Holley

This post originally appeared as a web-exclusive interview accompanying Image journal issue 58. Mary Kenagy Mitchell...

August 2016

August 17, 2016

Florence Foster Jenkins, Holy Fool

By Asher Gelzer-Govatos In many respects the new film Florence Foster Jenkins takes a paint...

July 2016

July 28, 2016

Against “Amazing Grace”

In a world in which it seems that just about everything seems to be complained...

May 2016

May 31, 2016

Richard Wilbur’s Poetry Captures Our Days

Last night I read a poem that showed me in a flash why I save...

March 2016

March 29, 2016

Believing in the Beach Boys

The first church I attended as a teenaged new believer swiftly taught me two doctrines:...

December 2015

December 31, 2015

To Illuminate a Small Field: 15 Songs for 2015

By Joel Heng Hartse At the end of each year, I compile a list of...

November 2015

November 04, 2015

Listening to a Stranger’s Story

I am boarding a plane to Detroit, and so is she, her thick coat falling...

October 2015

October 07, 2015

Life-Saving Moments of Art

In August, the musical duo Alright Alright, composed of husband and wife Seth and China...

August 2015

August 25, 2015

How To Begin a Book

I’m a bit Type A for a poet—or for what people perceive as one. I...

June 2015

June 30, 2015

The Dissonant Note

This post was made possible through the support of a grant from The BioLogos Foundation’s...

May 2015

May 27, 2015

What Cannot Be Fixed

I remember the time when "entropy" was all the rage. It must have been in...

February 2015

February 25, 2015

I Belong to Jesus

Today we are happy to welcome back former Good Letters blogger Sara Zarr as a...