An Insufferable Guide to Dealing with the Insufferable at Thanksgiving

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 11:36 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

Insufferable calls to insufferable and so the Holiday survival guide is born. Somewhere a liberal gives tips on surviving conservative relatives, a conservative on how to nap through woke sermonizing. All are insufferable. Someone is already writing the “do not be too happy at the Holidays, because many are sad” while some other scribbler is writing “be happy at the Holidays if you wish.” The best of this genre, however, is the self-aware commentary that realizes that the sort of person... Read more

The Thanksgiving for Gives and Takes (Blessed be!)

Last updated on: November 26, 2019 at 12:47 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

Thankfulness at a moment of loss seems odd. Am I glad for death, pain, or suffering? No. These things exist, because we and the devils have chosen badly. As a result, the cosmos is not what it should be. In the interconnected cosmos, even one error sets loose ripples, distorts and twists what was so beautiful that even the faintest hint of ugliness, hatred, or evil mars utterly what was and should be. Thank God, however, that the divine craftsman built well.... Read more

Some of Phil’s Last Reflections

Last updated on: November 23, 2019 at 3:11 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

This is taken from my thoughts at a conference on Phillip E. Johnson’s work following his memorial service. Phillip E. Johnson never stopped thinking about what is true and so he never stopped thinking about and supporting what is called the “intelligent design movement.” He began to suspect that he would not personally see the broader culture move in the direction he favored, but he had hope because he thought truth would prevail. As a philosopher who first met him... Read more

A Eulogy for Phillip E. Johnson

Last updated on: November 23, 2019 at 12:55 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

This is taken from part of what I said at the memorial service for Phillip E. Johnson, Gandalf gone to the West. We celebrate the Christian life of Phillip E. Johnson. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. . .” Phillip E. Johnson shifted the dialog about the nature of reality from the origins of the cosmos to the origins of ideas and the mind that holds those ideas. Put... Read more

A Small Thing About the Thing One Should Do (Aeneid and Virgil)

Last updated on: November 23, 2019 at 3:05 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Of all the great things one can learn from Virgil’s Aeneid, and a great man like Dante could learn so much from Virgil that he could create a language and a cosmos from the inspiration, there is a small thing I learned, even as a person who does not know the beauty of the Latin and is no expert, by participating in a discussion listening to those who do know more. The Aeneid shows that there is more to life than meeting... Read more

Be Still My Soul

Last updated on: November 23, 2019 at 12:45 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Death comes and leaves blank spaces in our lives. Loved friends, mentors, and family leave and we “must endure their going hence.” How can we stand this? My mom reminded me today of an old hymn. She pointed especially to the third verse. This helped me as I bear “their going hence” appropriately: grieving, but not as those without hope, recollecting what is good, beautiful, and true. Be still my soul the Lord is on thy side Bear patiently the... Read more

The Things We Miss

Last updated on: November 20, 2019 at 11:16 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

In the Bleak Midwinter When a friend dies, or a relative, that person may have gone to a better place, but we have not. We may meet, but we miss them and the missing continues. As I grow older, I realize the missing grows until my own ending. This is a bitter truth of life. This cannot be softened. I am directing a play for a brilliant group of actors at The College and I miss my Aunt Karen. When my... Read more

Avoiding Mr. Collins: Help us Jane, You are One of Our Few Hopes!

Last updated on: November 20, 2019 at 9:33 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

Grasping for good things, can make us a bad thing. Imagine a church leader currying political favor to the point he hardly speaks of anything but his patronage. So it is now, so it was in Jane Austen’s time. A pastor’s daughter, she knew the good and the bad in ministry. Jane Austen lashes the false parson, the placeholder, the social climber, driving him out of the temple. Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Collins, one of the more odious parsons this side of... Read more

Oh. Galveston.

Last updated on: November 18, 2019 at 8:57 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

Galveston is, roughly, twice as large as Manhattan. It is also entirely a gazillion times less populated, vital to industry, or important in American history. The Confederacy could not keep it, the Union hardly wanted it. Hurricanes cut her date with destiny short. Galveston is a Houston vacation spot: the a-bit-quaint neighboring metropolis on the Gulf. That’s what you see if you don’t know what you are seeing, heading off on a cruise hardly noticing where you are leaving. I am... Read more

Mandalorian (A Review and Appreciation) and the end of cord cutting?

Last updated on: November 18, 2019 at 12:28 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

A Mild Fan: Life With Star Wars as Excellent Entertainment Star Wars changed movies for me: good story telling could be combined with a theme park ride. I recall sitting in the theater and as Luke Skywalker started the run that destroyed the Death Star, I realized I was gripping the seat so tightly I had hurt my hands. I tried to relax, but then the Falcon appeared. The days of slow moving 2001 or cheesy Buck Rogers style movies were over. Star... Read more