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I often say, the key to good history is a good narrative. As the famous quote goes, of which I’ve forgotten the source, “all history is narrative.” If this is the measure, Gordon has written a very good history about the Bible. One of the marks of a good narrative is thematic cohesion. History booksContinue reading “What Is the Bible and Why Does it Matter: Reflections on Bruce Gordon’s The Bible: A Global History”

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” (Colossians 3:15) “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (1Continue reading “A Narrative of Peace: Exploring A Complicated Word With Profound Significance.”

Every once in a while you come across an idea that sort of reshapes the way you see the world or think about the world. A couple of years ago I read a book, a kind of travelogue, that offered a philosophical observation regarding how we experience the world. Everyone is shaped by two essentialContinue reading “The Places We Live, The Places We Are Drawn To: Exploring My Love For The Ocean and The Atlantic With John Haywood”

Is there irony in the fact of a renewed Christian not only locating his hero in a proposed angry athiest, but finding in his heros art a pathway to God? Maybe. On the surface at least it feels contradictory, and yet this is nevertheless true of my relationship to Spanish filmmaker/artist Guillermo Del Toro. AContinue reading “Unlikey Heroes: How An Angry Atheist Renewed My Faith In God”

“So much of the evil and hatred in this world could be countered by understanding that in every culture we name our storytellers.” (Alice Munroe in Brianna Labuskes’ The Boxcar Librarain) Munroe, one of three central chracters in Labuskes’ historical fictional rendering of the true history of the Boxcar Library, finds herself in dialogue withContinue reading “Narrative Philosophy and the Power of Story: How We Know What We Know”

I was listening to an interview with Rutger Bregman and The Good Fight Host, Yascha Mounk (Humankind, Utopia for Realists) on his newest book called Moral Ambition. Bregman is fascinating to me. While I don’t share his philosophy, I agree with much of his approach. More specifically, I find his critique of western civilization, and moreContinue reading “Moral Ambition, Effective Altruism, And Civilizations: Why We Need a Necessary Foundation”

Every once in a while I come across a concept or a word or an idea that helps illuminate and make sense of something I already knew to be intuitively true about myself. The term Orthorexia Nervosa was one of those. It is defined as an obsession with healhy eating that impacts ones life inContinue reading “Who am I? I Am a Word. I Am a Definition”

“The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” – Albert Einstein “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” – Socrates “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” – Ray Bradbury “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for ourContinue reading “Awakening To Acts of Wonder: Knowing Meaning in a World Reduced to Meaninglessness”

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” (Luke 24:1) As was the case with Christian celebrations around the world, my church spent this past Sunday in the resurrection narrative. Being in the Gospel of Luke (each yearContinue reading “On the First Day of the Week: Awakening To the New Creation Reality”

“I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord in the presence of all God’s people, in the courtyards of the Lord’s house, which is in the center of Jerusalem.” (Psalm 116:18) “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning…Continue reading “The Friday They Call Good: Reconsidering a Popular Phrase”