“It’s good that you see spiritual direction in terms of a dog, instead of only as a matter of prayer methods.” This was my spiritual director’s response when, early in our twenty-five years together, I told him about a neighbor’s dog barking all night, keeping me awake. I’d been agonizing over my soul’s relation to this constant distress. How could I accept this trial in grace? “You’re not meant to simply accept it,” Bill said. (Bill was Fr. William Shannon.... Read more
Gregory Wolfe “I’m sick of Flannery O’Connor.” That was the opening sentence of a recent piece by Randy Boyagoda for First Things magazine. It’s what journalists call “a strong lede,” especially when you consider that First Things readers are likely to revere the memory of Miss O’Connor. (He’s also tired of several other major writers from Hopkins and Dostoevsky to Tolkien and Eliot.) Boyagoda used that jolt to call attention to what he believes is the dearth of contemporary literature... Read more
Guest post by Lucas Kwong “Art, Faith, Mystery.” These watchwords have formed the center of Image journal’s mission since I joined its staff as a summer intern in 2006 (and, of course, well before that). Seven years later, on the eve of finishing my band’s first full length album, I find myself marveling at the mysteries by which Image has shaped my view of art and faith—and, by extension, the mysteries by which it has shaped the way that... Read more
Deborah* sat across the café table, cappuccino growing cold, tears brimming, lower lip trembling. “Jake’s situation isn’t improving. He just got a fifty-seven on a pre-calc test despite the daily tutoring I arranged for him. And before I registered him, I checked the instructor on Rate My Professors. He’s supposed to be the best. Jake just doesn’t put in enough time. He tries to compute in his head to cut corners, and that equals mistakes.” Deborah often talked to me... Read more
The following will be delivered as a d’var Torah, reflections on the Torah reading on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, at Congregation Beth Israel, Asheville, North Carolina. Let’s get straight to it. Child sacrifice. The akedah, the story of the binding of Isaac, invites us to think about child sacrifice and putting an end to it. But haven’t we already put an end to it? Are children still being sacrificed? In the United States? In... Read more
Guest Post by Stuart Scadron-Wattles Read Gregory Wolfe’s part 1 post here. The irony of the theme that Greg Wolfe had chosen for the Glen East 2013 conference (“Art and Risk”) was part of the silence between us, as we sat, glumly, opposite one another in two heavy armchairs, pondering our options. Outside, a heavy rain was falling. Greg was rolling an unlit cigar between his fingers, never a good sign. Image had risked an alliance with commerce, and it was... Read more
When I chose “Art and Risk” as the theme for Image journal’s 2013 Glen Workshops, I had no idea that by the time those events took place, through no fault of our own, Image would be facing a serious, unprecedented financial crisis that would decimate our nonprofit organization. Nor did I expect that I would have to take the further risk of bringing this whole sorry situation to light in order to ask you to help us get through it.... Read more
Guest Post By Cathy Warner The opening credits of Mad Men have always disturbed me: Don Draper falling out his Madison Avenue office window sinking past billboards and ads, past a stocking-clad woman’s leg, past his family. It’s a long free fall and he never hits bottom. If only somewhere during his downward tumble, Draper grabbed onto a copy of Richard Rohr’s book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, then he might read this small, wise... Read more
Guest Post By Christine A. Scheller “Many of our white brothers…have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.” — Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963 I was born on the first anniversary of the day these words were spoken. My black son was buried on the fortieth anniversary of the day their author was silenced. I’ve been pondering... Read more
We are on the lip of September. August has passed rapidly once again, predictably, dying with the moths buzzing around its flickering yellow bulb while the commentators and pundits cite their same old contradictory whines: Why do schools go back so early now? It used to be after Labor Day. That’s on one side, while on another: Summer’s just a relic of an agricultural economy. (Smartypants!) Now it’s why American students don’t know anything. On the one hand: Wistful overworked... Read more
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