Category: articles
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To Stand on the Shoulders of Giants You Must Climb their Legs
The great Coleridge quote (by way of Newton by way of Burton by way of Bernard of Chartes) that we see further because we stand on the shoulders of giants seems to be automatically assumed by the modern mind. We have “evolved” since the Greco Roman era. Even though clearly we are more barbaric. Even…
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After the Tornado: a Primer on Disaster
I wish Tara and I had less experience in disasters, but the truth is we have more than several lifetimes worth. I was on a team that served in Galveston after the hurricane – Zach Williams led worship before he was in the Lone Bellow, in fact. I was on a team in Katrina. Tara…
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Why the Movie is Always Worse than the Book
There seems to have arisen a sort of arrogance in our culture that if you’ve seen the movie, you’ve seen it all — that the movie is seldom truly worse than the book. But seeing is not understanding, not knowing, not believing – at least not the sort of seeing we normally mean. TV and Movies…
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Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
Each time I teach a literature course, I ask my students some version of this question, “What is literature?” Often it’s a question they haven’t considered, and we usually end up discussing our class reading list versus some of the more popular novels they know of. This leads us to talk about why we are…
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Survival Diaries
Your Diary is Boring We have quite the opportunity to be writing and processing our feelings during this awkward time of recommended distancing that has left introverts joyous and extroverts mourning. But the truth is that diaries are boring. Be it your diary, my diary, and even your best friend’s diary, they are all boring…
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Lemon Bird
A lemon bird I made a fool of myself over As if she were a green flash, a gold Medal, or a first date’s blue eyes — I love her Less naturally now. It’s like she’s God And I have to read my belief in her off A page in the prayer book. For a…
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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My good friend Krista regularly makes book recommendations to me and buys books for me, and I have loved every single one. That is remarkable to me. I don’t have that kind of success rate when buying gifts for my own husband and son. When I think about Krista selecting books for me, I am…
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Treasure in My Head
We hung suspended in dark misty space, cut off from the world by the roar of the engines and the rush of cold damp air. A few lights blinked and flashed below; big guns, perhaps. All-consuming was the bitter, enveloping cold; the skin on my face was numb and lifeless from the wind. Quite suddenly…
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The Anchor of Your Life
I believe that all roots run deep,Though they may not be visible to the human eye,They build a strong foundation,By reaching out and intertwining. They become a secure anchor,As a life begins to grow. I believe that every day has potential,And that the layers of your life,Are expanded by experiences,That connect the rings of your…
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The Secrets of Kraken Mare
Syllar glanced out the window and sighed. Today was not going to be a great day for harvesting oil. Seeing that he was on Titan, 790 million miles away from Earth, harvesting a resource that nations had warred over for thousands of years, how could any day be a great day for harvesting oil? It…
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Metamorfossi
“You Americans need to step out of yourselves, we like you people,” George White Eye[1] insisted, his own focus lit wide, wider than the small room in which I lay. I cannot respond with his fingers inside my mouth. “You understand what I say?” I nod impatiently, just wanting to get on with it. The…
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The Valley
The valley was ten miles and several worlds away. I hailed a taxi at the station and we drove out of town as the late autumn afternoon began its characteristic hush. The road soon began to drop towards a broad wooded valley with patches of mist here and there. I asked the driver to pull…