David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time Margaret of Antioch 20 July 2015 The Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, I sit here in the Humanities Building four hours before my viva waiting. It has been nearly four years since my wife and I got on a plane for England, not knowing what life would bring us. These four years working on my PhD, changing my thesis topic five times and my supervisors once, growing in our marriage, becoming... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 17 June 2015 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Friends and Family, Tomorrow will see the release of perhaps one of the most controversial documents issued by the Vatican in recent years. While Gaudium Evangelii certainly received harsh criticism after it was published, Laudato Si has received innumerable criticisms and has not officially been published yet (though an middling draft was leaked a few days ago). I wish I could say I didn’t... Read more
David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 30 May 2015 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Friends and Family, Well, I’ve done it. I’ve finally submitted my thesis, titled: Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God. It’s gone off to my examiners who will read it and then I will have to go back to the UK to defend it on 20 July. I can’t believe I’m almost done. Whatever happens at my viva, I will be... Read more
David Russell Mosley Eastertide Ascension Day The Edge of Elfland City, State/County Dear Friends and Family, As various previous letters of mine have indicated, I am increasingly becoming swayed by the arguments of distributism. However, so many of you my friends and family don’t quite know what I mean when I say distributism. Now, it should be stated upfront that there is often not one definition of distributism, it has different expressions and slightly different emphases with different people or... Read more
David Russell Mosley Eastertide 5 May 2015 On the Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Friends and Family, I just finished my annual reread of The Lord of the Rings, and I was struck by something I’ve never noticed before. In the penultimate chapter, ‘The Scouring of the Shire’, we meet Sam’s sweetheart, Rosie Cotton. The film version of sweet Rosie introduces her to us at the beginning, making her a barmaid at The Green Dragon Inn, perhaps even landlady the... Read more
David Russell Mosley Eastertide St George’s Day The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire, Dear friends and family, Well, with a thesis submission deadline of 31 May, and my wife getting a new job (which means I’m watching the boys while she’s at work), I have not had much time for blogging. So, today, I thought I would post a short section from my thesis introduction. In this section I try to develop a theology of poetry by looking at... Read more
David Russell Mosley Holy Week Maundy Thursday The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Friends and Family, I’m in the midst of some intense thesis writing/editing which, alongside caring for twins, one of whom has been sick lately, has left me little time for blogging. Still, I thought I would do a quick post on what I’m reading these days. To my children: A Bear Called Paddington Having finished the Narniad (also known as the Chronicles of Narnia), I decided... Read more
Stratford Caldecott, a man I never had the pleasure of meeting in this life, has had a profound effect on my life, devotion, theology, understanding of education, and more. This excellent post on his final book, Not as the World Gives, written by someone who knew him personally, is a source of both joy and sadness for me. I can only join the ranks of those who mourn, as Stratford himself understood them, Blessed are they that mourn: “that is,... Read more
David Russell Mosley The Feast of the Annunciation The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire Dear Friends and Family, Today is the day Frodo destroyed the ring, by way of Gollum, and the day we celebrate the archangel Gabriel announcing to Mary that God desired her to be with child. In honour of both events, here are some posts I’ve previously written. I hope you enjoy. Fiat and Doom, Mary and Frodo: Feast of the Annunciation and Destruction of the... Read more
An excellent post from Megan Von Bergen resonant with several things I’ve written here on Letters from the Edge of Elfland. Including Faeriean Metaphysics: A Diet of Poetry and Faeriean Metaphysics: The Necessity of Poetry, Fantasy, and Faerie in Theology. Read more
Letters from the Edge of Elfland
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