libraries, culture, typewriters
Because the only screengrabs of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal I've ever seen are of a knight playing chess with Death, I really thought that would be the whole movie. Just a Very Serious Film that would be more film-buff obligation than an enjoyable experience. But wow, am I glad to be mistaken. It's a profound, disturbing, grotesque, … Continue reading The Seventh Seal
In Station Eleven, survivors of a global pandemic and subsequent post-apocalyptic chaos decamp to an abandoned airport in Michigan and eventually establish a Museum of Civilization, comprised of assorted artifacts from life before “year zero,” when the pandemic paralyzed the world and rendered much of the stuff that had comprised their lives useless. The Museum … Continue reading Crunchy Cons
At one point in Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Mason asks his father if there's magic in the world. Probably not literal magic, his dad replies. But then he asks the boy: if you didn’t know what a whale was and someone told you there was a giant mammal that lived underwater with a heart as big as a car and arteries … Continue reading Deep & The Divine Milieu
The Master of death will come soon enough—and perhaps we can already hear His footsteps. There is no need to forestall His hour nor to fear it. When He enters into us to destroy, as it seems, the virtues and the forces that we have distilled with so much loving care out of the sap … Continue reading Calvary
A Teach Me How To Dewey production This Is How We Dewey: 211 Concepts of God 212 Existence, attributes of God 213 Creation 214 Theodicy 215 Science & religion 216 No longer used—formerly Evil 217 No longer used—formerly Prayer 218 Humankind 219 No longer used—formerly Analogies Once again we’ve got a number of winning Ghosts … Continue reading DDC 210-219: Are you there, God? It’s Melvil
A passage early on in Paul Elie's The Life You Save May Be Your Own popped out when I first read it and stuck with me as I watched Darren Aronofsky's remarkable Noah. Elie's book chronicles the intersecting lives and spiritual journeys of four influential Catholic writers: Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Walker Percy, and Flannery O'Connor. I'm still working my way … Continue reading Dorothy Day and the Noah Way
And you’ll see the glitter of crashing cymbals and you’ll hear the thunder of rolling drums and the shimmer of trumpets. Ta-ta-ta! And you’ll feel something akin to the electric thrill I once enjoyed. — “Seventy Six Trombones” from The Music Man How does God speak? Through nature, according to the book of Job. Through Jesus and … Continue reading Electrick Children
Just read this in the peroration of N.D. Wilson's (magnificent, challenging, tempestuous) Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: If the Maker of the world were to descend to earth, how would you expect him? If you heard that the Infinite, the Spirit Creator was entering into His own Art, wouldn't you look to the clouds? Wouldn't you look … Continue reading The Purple Rose of Heaven
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV) Paul beckons us to present with thanksgiving our requests to God. But … Continue reading In Heavenly Peace
Andrew Sullivan highlighted this post by a woman named Rachael, the daughter of Matt Slick, the founder of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM). Rachael is now an atheist, largely in response to what (at least according to her post) was a spiritually abusive upbringing at the hands of her fundamentalist father. To sum up: For … Continue reading The God Of Freedom