The depths of desire I have read a lot of good novels over the years, stories that captured my imagination, drawing me into a…
An Inspector Calls (Aisling Walsh, 2015)
I am responsible for what I know The story of An Inspector Calls occurs in April 1912, and the action takes place in a…
The New Copernicans: An Interview with Author John Seel
Books / Pluralistic World / Spirituality
In his The New Copernicans: Millennials and the Survival of the Church, cultural analyst, social-impact consultant, and author, John Seel, draws attention to a…
Building Wells In a Spiritual Desert
Culture / Pluralistic World / Spirituality
Ranchers have a choice: build fences or dig wells. Wells are the better choice. In the Australian outback there are two main methods of…
Less: A Novel (Andrew Sean Greer, 2017)
A mediocre life searching for love I decided to read the novel, Less by Andrew Greer because it won a Pulitzer this year. “A…
The Cloud of Knowing (Ellis Potter, 2018)
The clouds of scripture and reality Ellis Potter suggests we can best understand reality by seeing it in terms of two great divisions. The…
Sources of the Christian Self: A Cultural History of Christian Identity (J.M. Houston and J. Zimmerman, 2018)
A history of Christian faithfulness The calling of God to his people to be faithful never changes, but the specific shape of faithfulness changes…
The Post (Steven Spielberg, 2018)
The free press in a democracy In 1971 the United States was at war in Viet Nam, and I was eligible for the draft.…
The New Copernicans (David John Seel, 2018)
The warning signs Some warnings are jarring and immediate. “Mayday,” for example. Most, however, are subtle and incremental, like a pan-pan warning: “Pay attention.”…
Flannery O’Connor: The Patron Saint of Ex-English Major Organic Vegetable Farmers
Community / Creation / Culture / Faith / Ordinary Life / Spirituality / Work and Rest
Seven years ago my wife Hannah and I started an organic vegetable farm in southeastern Minnesota. Like our homesteading ancestors we employed a lot…