When beauty is a curse I’m not certain how many people today have been exposed to Grimm’s fairy tales in their original form. The…
Denis Haack
![Denis](https://ransomfellowship.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/denis-150x150.jpg)
Departures (Yôjirô Takita, 2008)
An awkward time Cellist Daigo Kobayashi (played by Masahiro Motoki), after practicing for years has finally achieved his dream of playing in an orchestra…
Nourishing Gratitude: Being Thankful, Again
Hospitality / Maturity and Flourishing / Work and Rest
One of the dangers of a comfortable life is that comfort becomes our norm. So, we notice when events dip below that standard, but…
The Juvenilization of American Christianity (Thomas E. Bergler, 2012)
A faith stuck in adolescence In the 1940s experts predicted the decline of religious belief in America, and had the survey data to back…
Travels in Siberia (Ian Frazier,2010)
A forbidding, exotic, abused land Siberia first entered my consciousness through the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. My introduction to him came in his brilliantly…
Discovering your calling, slowly
Maturity and Flourishing / Spirituality
Last night Margie read from and signed copies of her book, The Exact Place. Anita had filled Toad Hall with candles and flowers, arranged…
Character v. Personality
Books / Culture / Maturity and Flourishing
As Susan Cain points out in her fascinating book, Quiet, American society went through an important cultural shift in the opening years of the…
On vision, hubris and faithfulness
Over the last few months I’ve received notice of two different ventures being launched by friends. News of the first venture arrived via email.…
A Cloud of Witnesses (Alister McGrath, 1990), Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy (Bradley Green, 2010), Early Christian Thinkers (Paul Foster, 2010)
Some who came before We are part of an unfolding story, and no amount of wishing otherwise will change that reality. Those who came…
The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson, 2011)
Labeling without conscience On May 27, 2011 I happened to catch an episode (#436) of This American Life on National Public Radio called “The…