Advent 2 December 2018 The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, Last night my family went to the vigil mass for the first Sunday in Advent. We don’t normally go to the Saturday vigil mass, but we’ve made a vow (OK, I made the vow and got my wife to agree to it) to go to mass every Sunday together as a family. For those with small children, you know how difficult it can be to go to mass... Read more
Ordinary Time 26 November 2018 The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, I arrived early to the evening mass at my parish for the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. I stopped by our Lady’s altar to light a candle and then found a pew in which to read quietly. I brought Blessed Julian of Norwich’s Showings with me. There was still a hint of incense in the air. Before more of the lights were turned... Read more
Ordinary Time 5 November 2018 The Edge of Elfland Manchester, NH Dearest Readers, As many of you know, I work for a small, private, Catholic high school in the classical tradition. In case you don’t know what that means, let me, briefly, break it down for you. We are small, around 100 students (but also growing). We are private, meaning we are not a diocesan school. We are Catholic, meaning that while we are not a diocesan school we are... Read more
Ordinary Time All Souls Day 2018 The Edge of Elfland Manchester, NH Dearest Readers, As I continue my slow work on my Reclaiming the Discarded Image, I have been re-reading Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. In fact, just last night I finally began That Hideous Strength, my personal favorite out of the trilogy. One of my chief complaints over the years, however, has been the collective name for this Trilogy. While a few people,... Read more
Ordinary Time 28 October 2018 The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, Autumn has fully arrived in all of his colorful, blustery, cold, rainy, autumnal glory. I’m not someone who likes change for its own, but I love rhythmic changes. I’ve been blessed by fate to, thus far, always live in places with real seasons. Spring, however long or short, always gives way to the heat of Summer, the Summer Sun gives way to Autumnal harvests, and, at last,... Read more
Ordinary Time St. John Paul II 2018 The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, Recently I came across an article titled, “Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings?” The basic argument seems to boil down to two chief ideas. First, ancient (and by ancient they also mean medieval) literature is chiefly told in a “just-the-facts” manner with little or no explanation of what characters are thinking and feeling. The second, which is harder to ferret out precisely, is that... Read more
Ordinary Time 16 October 2018 The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, Recently some fellow Patheos Catholic writers pointed out that the Patheos Pagan facebook page has just under 45K likes while the the Patheos Catholic facebook page has roughly 27.5K likes. Someone else chimed in noting the Mehta’s The Friendly Atheist, just one blog on Patheos Atheist, has nearly 600K likes. This caused me, and everyone else really, to wonder why Patheos Catholic is so far behind everyone... Read more
Ordinary Time St. Theresa of Avila The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, As a parent of twin four-year-olds, I often think about the way I am shaping my children’s imagination. Often, I focus on my failures. Too much TV or Kindle Fire time; the wrong kinds of shows; not reading chapter books or the best children’s stories yet; etc. But today I want to focus on some wins. Specifically, I want to draw your attention to four excellent... Read more
Ordinary Time Michaelmas 2018 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, Those of you who have been receiving these letters for a while now will know that lately I’ve become rather a fan of Malcolm Guite and Michael Ward. Guite––an Anglican priest, folk musician and rockstar, poet, and more––has become one of my favorite modern poets and is my favorite scholar of the Inklings. Ward’s Planet Narnia has been so formative on my work as a scholar that... Read more
Ordinary Time St. Theodore of Tarsus The Edge of Elfland Concord, NH Dearest Readers, It was about two years or so ago I was first introduced to director Tomm Moore. Somewhere around St. Patrick’s Day and The Secret of Kells was available on Netflix. The boys and I watched it and while they, at roughly two, faded in and out, I was enraptured. I loved the storytelling, I loved the animation, and, most of all, I loved the connection of... Read more
Letters from the Edge of Elfland
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