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I mentioned this in a previous post, but this year both my Church and I am working through the Gospel of Mark (every year my Church works through a different Gospel beginning with Christmas and moving through Lent and Easter). What has struck me in the beginning chapter is how this Gospel’s penchant for jumpingContinue reading “Some Thoughts on Mark Chapter 2: Houses, Temples, Crowds and Healings”

For Lewis, the experience of Joy as virtue and Joy as person were, if not synonymous, held together as a working metaphor for the other. In this particular quote the author is speaking about the way in which both things are held together by memory. Our lives are memory. Thus, as it was with Lewis,Continue reading “The Joy That Awakens Our Desire for Truth: A Brief Thought on Remembering and Celebrating 21 Years of Marriage”

“Theater started with the sacred and eventually brought in the profane. Cinema started with the profane and brought in the sacred.” (The Wages of Cinema, Crystal Downing) In the book Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, Mircea Eliade defines the nature of the sacred as “differentiation” and defines the profane as “homogeneity.” ItContinue reading “The Sacred and the Profane: Setting Crystal Downing and Mircea Eliade in Conversation”

I’ve got a confession to make. And perhaps in the iconic words of Dave Grohl, “I’m your fool.” Perhaps, but while the month of January often gets labeled the annual dumping ground for films stuidos don’t think will succeed elsewhere, that get auomatically written off by critics and don’t get seen by audiences, I haveContinue reading “Dumping Ground Or Underappreciated: Why I’m a Fan of January At The Movies”

“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1) What’s in a word. In this case the Greek word arche, translated as “beginning.” Turns out quite a bit.  According to biblical scholar James R. Edwards, the formal introduction to the Gospel of Mark takes the common course of patterned ancientContinue reading “What’s In a Word: Beginnings, Endings, and New Beginnings in the Gospel of Mark”

The goal for me heading into a new year is never an exhaustive reading plan or “to read” list. It’s simply locating a place to start. I find most of the time this emerges from the natural outflow of where my reading year in 2025 brought me. What themes and stories and directions it findsContinue reading “Looking Ahead: A Place To Start My Reading in 2026”

If you had asked me 3 months ago, I would have said this has been an exceptionally bare and down year for film. Thankfully some of the fall titles managed to rise to the top, even giving us some genuine success stories. Leading the way would of course be Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle AfterContinue reading “End of the Year Reflections: Top Films of 2025”

The Stats: Total Books Read: 179 Shortest Book Read: The Grand Miracle (60 Pages) Longest Book Read: The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough (698 pages) The Breakdown of How I read: The Ratings (out of 5): Looking at my stats for this year, I feel really good about physical books still  leading theContinue reading “Top Reads of 2025”

“All stories have a meanwhile- an important thing that’s happening while the rest of the story moves along.” (How To Read a Book, Monica Wood) “But the rewards of a journey aren’t always immediate and aren’t always manifest. The point is, should we count milestones or miles? And the truth is I learned a lotContinue reading “End of the Year Reflections: The Story of My Reading Journey in 2025”

What is Rosebud A number of years ago I started a New Years Resolution Plan called Rosebud. I heard about it on one of the travel podcasts that I follow. The process essentially looks like this:Step 1: List Three Roses-This is the stuff that I would consider the greatest strengths, successes or accomplishments of theContinue reading “Rosebud 2026: A Conversation About Resolutions In the New Year”