Month: March 2008
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Christianity Made Interesting: The Inklings
It’s hard to account for just how much influence continues to stream from that little group of writers called the Inklings. Never mind that the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien have survived into the twenty-first century in the unlikely form of Hollywood blockbusters trailing cash and merchandise as far as the eye can…
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Ten Books that Influenced C.S. Lewis
The Christian Century, that venerable old journal of what Christianity looks like from the mainline denominations, asked C.S. Lewis in 1962 for a top ten list of books that had exerted a formative influence on him. I’m currently re-reading Wordsworth’s Prelude, and had a vague memory that it was on Lewis’ list. So I looked…
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Undergrad Conference on Good & Evil at Biola
One interesting sign of intelligent life in American colleges is the proliferation of academic conferences by, of, and for undergraduates. These undergrad conferences, where college students present arguments and research to each other, are popping up in more and more disciplines these days. Biola University’s student government, Associated Students, is calling for papers NOW for…
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Go On, Agree with God
I’ve been describing “confession of sins” to my kids as agreeing with God about sin. Etymologically, that’s correct: greek homo (same) + logeo (say) = to say the same thing. Sometimes, of course, we just don’t want to say the same thing about sin as God does. He’s entitled to his opinions, of course, but…
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Life, a Preparation for Death
In January, I had the privilege of taking twenty Torrey Honors Institute students to Rome, Italy for two weeks. Not only was I impressed by these students’ attention, interest and appreciation for great art and architecture, but I was also impressed by their appreciation for an opportunity to travel and learn. Though there were many…
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Death and Darkness Get You Packing
Death, and darkness get you packing, Nothing now to man is lacking, All your triumphs now are ended, And what Adam marr’d, is mended; Graves are beds now for the weary, Death a nap, to wake more merry; Youth now, full of pious duty, Seeks in thee for perfect beauty, The weak, and aged tir’d,…
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You Didn’t Say a Word (Terry Taylor on the Passion of Christ)
About ten years ago, the GREATEST AND MOST OVERLOOKED LIVING SINGER-SONGWRITER Terry Scott Taylor released a CD entitled John Wayne. The whole CD was great, marking Terry Taylor’s umpteenth self-reinvention –this time as a kind of regionalist spiritual pundit, an alterna-pop Flannery O’Connor from Orange County. But a standout song that’s been on my mind…
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Golgotha (paper and ink)
This is a little drawing (about six inches square) given to me by Verna Smith, an artist who works in hand-made paper. She must have made it around 1975, but gave it to me thirty years later. Photos don’t quite capture the delicacy and suggestiveness of the paper: we’re so used to thinking of paper…
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Pirate Epic in 25 Panels
Prolific artist Freddy Age Seven has recently turned from single images to the demanding art form of juxtaposed sequential graphic narrative: cartoons. Here is an untitled composition in 25 panels that tells a pirate story. But it is no mere entertainment: it is both a searching study of human greed, and an exploration of the…
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Making Marriage: A Wedding Prayer
I prayed this prayer at a wedding in Picayune, Mississippi, March 15, 2008. Almighty God, only you have the power to make a marriage. This special church service cannot do it, though it has been beautiful. Our hopes and wishes for Zak and Martha cannot, though we are their best friends and adoring families. The…
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Cactus Forest
The stagecoach, horse, and cacti are all drawn in red, with sharp angles and spiky corners everywhere. I can testify that Freddy Age Seven learned some of this technique from books by Ed Emberley, who can teach anybody to draw simple symbolic forms. The spokes are sharp, the cactus needles (OF COURSE!) are sharp, the…
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On Viewing a Body
Frankly, I wondered about the wisdom and place of a viewing. Our church was devastated by the death of Midi and Nathan Mikasa, mother and four-year-old son, less than a year — but such a year — after we opened our doors. I remember my pastor’s call one morning. I had been planning to call…