Child: Where does God live? Ancient Man: On the highest peak of the holy mountain, shrouded in cloud and fire, distant and thunderous. The path there is treacherous for the living. Medieval Man: Child, God does not live on this mountain or that, but in the highest heaven - the unmoved and outermost sphere within... Continue Reading →
Seasons
One of my new favorite authors, Joshua Gibbs, wrote somewhere (I wish I could remember where) about how the purpose of each stage of life is to prepare for the next. I remember that Gibbs was writing about high school and teenagers, so he was also saying it another way: enjoying the present moment is... Continue Reading →
The Facebook Dilemma, pt. 2: Rebuilding Babel
A Mission Without a Moral Compass When Facebook launched in the early 2000s, Mark Zuckerberg had no long-term plan or goal. Soon after they had reached 1 million accounts, an interviewer asked him what his plans were for the company and he said "Um ... I mean ... there doesn't necessarily have to be more."... Continue Reading →
The Facebook Dilemma, pt. 1: On Access
Life is full. There are many things to be do besides stare out the window and think about the ways in which technology changes the experience of living, but that's exactly what I have found myself doing this last month. It started when I was dog-sitting for some friends in September. Looking for a bed-time... Continue Reading →
Known & Loved
I would like to introduce you to my niece. Say hello to Mary. Mary is six and a half years old and was born with a very rare genetic disorder called CardioFacioCutaneous Syndrome (CFC). Don't worry if you have never heard of it. According to one estimate, there are fewer than 500 known cases in... Continue Reading →
Siren Songs and Countermelodies
I had a birthday this week. Normally I would not mention it in this kind of public space. I hesitate to do so even now lest anyone think that I'm fishing for extra birthday attention. I'm not. That said, I turned 41 on Thursday. The fact is relevant to this post because it is an... Continue Reading →
Walking backwards in the dark
As many of you know, last year on November 1st I chose not to renew my contract at the school where I had been teaching for five years. I wrestled with God and he won. He asked me to trust him and I said okay. True as it is, saying it that way makes it... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Lockdown #4
It's as the good Doctor says: "Time is wibbly."1 We like to think it moves straight -- ever forward in a quantifiable succession of intervals -- but it doesn't. It wraps around us like light bending in prism, unfurling its colors according to the density and shape of the glass. Just so, time speeds up... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Lockdown #3
Times of uncertainty and challenge have a way of exposing and even magnifying certain truths that were previously either hard to see or ignored. They also have a way of making other truths trickier to see while masking some altogether. For example: margins. One of the social realities that the lockdown is bringing into sharp... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Lockdown #2
Day 10. Presumably we are halfway through this time of government- & neighbor-enforced house arrest. Probably ... hopefully ... and whether that light at the end of the tunnel is real or just a lost lightening bug, these ten days have taught me three things about the world and one thing about myself. There is... Continue Reading →
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