David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 19 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Since it is October and, right or wrong, our society has associated something both evil and good with this month and Halloween in general, I’ve been re-reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula. According to my records, I haven’t read this book since I first read it as a senior in high school, but I’m fairly certain I read it at some point in between on... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time Feast of St. Luke The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, A few weeks ago I introduced my kids to one of my favorite kids’ movies, Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, or, as my kids call it, Giant Rabbit. Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, one of the reasons I love this film is because of its quintessential Britishness. I mean honestly, first of all, what’s more more British than Wallace... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time St. Ignatius The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Sorry for the radio silence lately. Last week I was first preparing for the Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference at Villanova, which I attended this past weekend. I hope to write about my experience there this week, but today I want to draw your attention to something else. Not long ago, Fr. Aidan Kimel at Eclectic Orthodoxy invited me to write a post for... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 6 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Yesterday I wrote to you about some of my confusion over evangelical love for Lewis. In that letter I focused on social aspects of Lewis’ life that many evangelicals would find distasteful at best and downright sinful at worst. While the ultimate point of that letter was to focus on the possible ecumenism, there was also the tacit point that certain things Lewis... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 5 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, I’ve been a lover of Lewis since before my proper Christian days. I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia when I was a non-Christian lad in elementary school. When I did finally become a Christian––in the Churches of Christ, the a cappella arm of the Restoration Movement––I started to branch out in my Lewis reading. Before I hit college I had already read... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time St. Francis The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Today is the feast of St. Francis. He’s one of those saints that draws everyone’s attention, Christian and non-Christian alike. His love for animals, for the world itself, his beautiful poem, Canticle of Brother Sun, his rejection of riches these draw us in. But when we get so drawn in we something rather terrifying. He actually believes this stuff. He didn’t just reject riches... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 3 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Lately I’ve been encountering something that I find rather odd. Perhaps its oddness is only in that I have never thought this way myself and so being only now introduced to it, I find it strange. I’m talking about the relationship of Christianity to myth (and also to fantasy). I should note right away that I have encountered Christians who believe Christianity antithetical... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 2 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Over at A Little Bit of Nothing, fellow Patheos Catholic writer, Henry Karlson examined the nature of atheism. Karlson argued that atheism is a kind of delusion since all people have some kind of absolute (a grand, unifying theory, for instance), and yet atheists claim to be certain that there is no absolute, no God. There is more to Karlson’s argument and you... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 1 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, When I was going my PhD in Nottingham, I had a pretty regular routine. I would get to the university at about 7:30 AM and work until about noon. After lunch, I would typically grab my pipe, possibly a book or journal, and head out to the lake just off of campus (whether or not it is “on campus” is up for debate,... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 1 October 2016 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Readers, This morning, running rather late, I prayed Lauds as set for me by my Spiritual Director. I did so after having read Chase Padusniak’s post on the Tradinista! Manifesto. As I was rushing through my prayer time I was brought to a halt when I read these words. I share them with in the hopes that they will prove a guiding influence not... Read more
Letters from the Edge of Elfland
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