“So therefore that mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him– that mortal man cannot be true, or undeveloped. With books the same. The truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon’s, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe.”
from Melville’s Moby [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Posted in Literary on 28 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Foolish Living (part one)
Posted in Personal, Philosophy and Theology on 19 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In First Corinthians, St. Paul writes that God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. He reminds us that the Jews demanded a sign, and the Greeks sought wisdom—but that we preach Christ crucified, “a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Greeks.” The sacrifice of the Son of God is not [...]
Prophecy?
Posted in Personal, Running, Teaching on 18 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I found this advertisement many, many years ago– before I was teacher, girlfriend, or much of a runner. It hangs above my desk now, a reminder that guidance comes in all sorts of packages.
Rebecca
Twilight
Posted in Literary on 18 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
When my fellow Americans decide to become obsessed with something– a little bit of me laughs snidely and but the rest of me wonders if it is with good reason that thousands of young people are flocking to bookstores (movie theaters, or whatever the venue). Although my tastes don’t often overlap with those of [...]
Mixed Metaphors?
Posted in Literary, Philosophy and Theology on 16 April 2009 | 1 Comment »
But, let’s make this more complicated. At creation, God says:
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Humanity is the image of God, a metaphor (in some unfathomable way) for the [...]
What’s a Meta-For?
Posted in Literary, Philosophy and Theology, Teaching on 15 April 2009 | 1 Comment »
One of my tasks as a teacher is to take that which is unknown to a student and make it known to them, or at least create a space wherein that might happen. At its heart, this is a metaphor. E—- doesn’t understand the intricate class structure of Scott’s medieval England, so I (hoping my [...]
Spring Break to-do list
Posted in Literary, Personal, Teaching on 12 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
1) Drink coffee, in various locations
2) Read books, in various locations
R
N.B. These are presently stacked on my desk for spring break consumption …
The Necessary Angel –Wallace Stevens
What Are People For? –Wendell Berry
The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men –John Steinbeck
Maytrees –Annie Dillard
The Graveyard Book –Neil Gaiman
Watership Down –Richard Adams
Over Hill and Dale –Gervase [...]
Seven Stanzas for Easter (John Updike)
Posted in Philosophy and Theology, Poetry on 12 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.
The same [...]
The New Atheists’ Easter message? ‘Grow up or die’
Posted in Movies Music Media, Philosophy and Theology on 10 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“I would far rather go back to the little church in north London this weekend and listen to the priest talk about ‘love’ and ‘redemption’ than watch or read or listen to any more shrill New Atheist propaganda.”
Honest, biting critique of the New Atheist movement (specifically, Bill Maher’s Religulous) from an atheist editor.
R
You’ll cast bells. I’ll paint icons.
Posted in Movies Music Media, Teaching on 8 April 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Last night C.H. and I had an unexpectedly open evening … and drove into LA to see Tarkovsky’s Andre Rublev; it (in all its over three hour glory) was playing at the New Beverly. I think that it is an especially fitting movie for Holy Week– as it looks into the depravity of man, [...]
