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Monthly Archives: January 2010
Nature’s Four Elements
This piece of art hangs in the lobby and new entrance to the Toledo Hospital. I always linger and look at art in hospitals. The black shapes in the upper left look like strokes from calligraphy, and the image in … Continue reading
Agendas In the Church
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken. (Ps 16.8) God, I felt shaken yesterday. Frustrated, angry… dealing with decisions, regrets and agendas. Always agendas. Agendas in the … Continue reading
Art and Evolution
In his book On the Origin of Stories, Brian Boyd uses evolutionary theory to explain the rise of the arts in human life. Boyd suggests that art and creativity is a human mutation necessary for our survival. It “develops in … Continue reading
Poor Shoutin’ Methodists
In American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists, historian John Wigger brings to life the father of American Methodism. He follows Asbury’s life from his birth in England in 1745, through his conversion to Methodism as a teen and his … Continue reading
Welcome Grace
New York pastor David Lewicki’s daughter Grace was born on New Year’s Eve, 11 weeks premature. He hasn’t written about the experience, though, or his wife’s difficult and scary pregnancy. Grace has brought me closer to the deep fear of … Continue reading
Play Dough Jesus
In his wartime radio broadcasts, collected in Mere Christianity, writer and apologist C.S. Lewis made a famous argument about Jesus: A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great … Continue reading
Jesus In Afghanistan
A US military base in Afghanistan has adopted two orphan boys. Though the two are technically employed as laborers, they don’t work for more than 20 or 30 minutes a day, watering plants, picking up trash, or helping with other … Continue reading
Winter Tree
Not much photoblogging lately, but here’s a maple tree outside my office window, taken with an LG camera phone. I love how snow rests on tree limbs. ADDED: Same tree, same camera… different angle, different day.
Physicians and Faith
Sociologist Wendy Cadge believes physicians need to do a better job of handling faith issues that arise in patient care. Many doctors see religion and spirituality as a barrier to medical care or, at most, a useful crutch when medicine … Continue reading
Carpe Diem
In a review of a book on Montaigne, Frederic Raphael drops this nugget: Carpe diem, the Epicurean motto, is best honoured by caressing the quotidian details and appreciating the ordinary. Caressing the quotidian details… now that’s a phrase I’d not … Continue reading
The Blind Side
We saw The Blind Side on New Year’s Day. Great story… great film. Synopsis: a wealthy white couple takes in a homeless black teen and makes him part of their family. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw star as Leigh Anne … Continue reading
An Honest Prayer
Why pray? Evidently, God likes to be asked. God certainly does not need our wisdom or our knowledge, nor even the information contained in our prayers (“your Father knows what you need before you ask him”). But by inviting us … Continue reading
7 Questions from Francis Asbury
More than any individual, Francis Asbury established Methodism as a force and presence in America. He was utterly devoted to his cause, as shown in this plan of examining one’s spiritual life. To assess whether or not their souls “be … Continue reading
Seeing the Invisible
Last month NASA launched an orbiting observatory, WISE, to scan the universe using infrared radiation. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer can see objects that do not emit light. Looking at long-wave radiation offers several advantages compared with viewing just the … Continue reading
