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Reading Journal 2023: Legends and Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes by Travis Baldree Just to set up my experience with this book. I first heard about it early last year when it started to show up in seemingly every think piece, podcast and online discourse. For a book that had seeminglyContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: Legends and Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes by Travis Baldree”

Reading Journal 2023: The Givenness of Things: Essays by Marilynne Robinson At one point Robinson muses about the challenges of being both an academic and a Christian. She describes how when people discover she is a Christian it tends to result in shock and confusion. In truth, the identifying feature that is probably more shockingContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: The Givenness of Things: Essays by Marilynne Robinson”

Film Journal 2023: The Territory, Retrograde, Wildcat Caught up with three recently released documentaries, one cited by some pundits as vying for a nomination at this year’s Oscars (The Territory, now steaming on Disney+), one an intimate and harrowing look at the moments before and after the announcement that American troops would be leaving AfghanistanContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: The Territory, Retrograde, Wildcat”

Film Journal 2023: Broker (Directed By Hirokazu Kore-eda)Where to watch: Mcgilvary Cineplex, Cinemateque If you are not yet familiar with the work of Kore-eda, one of the best living filmmakers of our present day, do yourself a favor and experience the sheer emotional and inspirational brevity of some of his most celebrated works. While theContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Broker”

Reading Journal 2023: The Silver Crown By Robert C. O Brien I was made aware of this book after listening to a podcast episode discussing the film adaptation of The Secret of Nihm. The book being a childhood favorite, I decided to revisit it in 2022. Unaware of whether the author had penned other worksContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: The Silver Crown By Robert C. O Brien”

Film Journal 2023: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (Directed by Peter Baynton and Charlie Mackesy)Where to watch: Apple TV+ “Life is difficult, but you are loved.”This beautifully animated film, based on the book by the same name, follows a simple cast of characters who happen to find each other as aContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Over Christmas I found myself meditating on and reflecting on the Gospel of Luke, specifically the parallel stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph. I came across an interesting thesis titled The Blessed Mother Sarah: The Figure of Sarah in Genesis Rabbah in Light of Christian Exegesis and the Rise of the VirginContinue reading “Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and the Rest of the Women: Rethinking The Birth Narrative”

A couple observations on Luke 15:11-32 (The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother) for discussion: What follows is a set of three parables. What this should tell us is that all three figures will appear in the parables, as parables are designed so that the audience will see themselves in it. When it comesContinue reading “The Father, The Prodigal Son, and the Larger Message of Luke 15”

Non-Fiction This walk through the majority of my nonfiction reads is something of an experiment. I tried to walk through my reads and track through my experiences of these books as a kind of story that defines the major themes of my year. I note the unintentional bookends that frame my first and final reads.Continue reading “My Reading Journal, 2022: Non-Fiction”

A few years ago I began 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 the past year, the stuffContinue reading “Rose Bud 2023”