On p.40 of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, Mario keeps his older brother from sleep attempting to circle the conversation towards his real goal: the question of “do you believe in God?”
Hal complains, “You ask me this once a week.”
Read moreWhy celebrate Alhallowtide? And what is it, exactly?
p/c : Nicola Fioravanti
There is a series of days which exists in the Church’s calendar which has all but disappeared from the Christian calendars of contemporary American Christianity save for one lingering event: trick-or-treating on Halloween.
Read moreReading Charles Taylor while watching Harry Potter
During our time we watched through some of the Harry Potter films, and my wife got to see, for the first time, one of the most evil villains in film and literature: Dolores Umbridge.
Read moreSome Notes on Joppa
p/c: Faruk Kaymak
In preparation for a trip to Israel I’ve been reading about Joppa (modern day Jaffa). Here are some choice morsels from my notes (which are, as usual, indebted to James B. Jordan the apostolic fathers of the early church):
Read moreA Jane Austen novel ...yunno, like Judgement Day
p/c Elaine Howlin via upsplash
When it comes to awkward moments, tense moments, moments of severe relational tension, Jane Austen rules with all the mastery of a high-born chatelaine. Though I’ve written about the awkward in other places before, this weekend’s readings for my literature class (from Pride and Prejudice) demand some further consideration.
Read moreSing the Psalter
This past week we had a network-wide clergy retreat for Diocesan clergy and aspirants (people in the discernment process towards ordination). The guest teacher was my good friend Fr. Ben Jefferies. He taught on the importance of the inner life, using the rule of St. Romuald as the syllabus and the Psalter as the application. I want briefly only to reflect on one point of his instruction, namely the dictum of Romuald that “in the Psalter there is one way only…”
Read moreAn empty clergyman
Mr. Collins is the name of the pompous clergyman in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. He is a sanctimonious fool. Everything he does is equal measures hilarity and painfulness. And I commend a careful study of him to all clergymen everywhere. Be sober-minded, brothers, lest you fall into the emptiness of the form of life Mr. Collins lives.
Read moreSome thoughts on Romans which, though biblically faithful, will most likely get me called a heretic by some concerned quarters of christendom
In the interest of some small recovery of what I think the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul in Romans I offer this general thesis: the Letter to the Romans is primarily about Glory, glory and worship. The brief notes which follow flesh this out a little.
Read moreMaui Fires Update - August 2023
During the week of August 14-19, both Chris Bruno and Deacon Dawson visited Fr. Jason Hill and our sister church on Maui - Kingsfield Anglican. The goal of the trip was to pray, listen, and see what ways we can partner with Kingsfield to best minister the Gospel to the people of Maui after this terrible fire.
Read moreSickness and the removing of idols
I am newly recovered from a bout of very bad illness —an illness which kept me in bed for almost 5 days in a row, mostly asleep. If you know me, such a condition of inactivity is not fun. It is brutal. “What am I” some dark voice within me whispers “if I am not doing something?”
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