Like all divorces this one is going to be messy. You’re the judge, so try sorting this out: The complainant files papers saying she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. There’s neglect and even some abuse. The complainant wants full custody of the kid and certain rights and privileges to the house and the bank accounts — none of which would exist if the plaintiff hadn’t built them in the first place. This is roughly where we sit as people try... Read more
Orthodox Christians this week mark the Sunday of the Holy Cross. At the midpoint of Lent, the church makes a special point of placing the cross before us to console and embolden believers en route to Pascha, or Easter. Through its veneration and contemplation we gain strength for the journey, its upthrust beam like a staff of support. And yet, the cross is a tool of death. Why turn our minds and hearts toward such a dread instrument? C. S.... Read more
There’s an old story about several blind men who try describing an elephant after touching various parts of it. Because the elephant is quite large, each man can only touch a limited portion. So the man touching the leg says the elephant is like a tree, while the one touching the tail says it’s like a snake, and so on, each man coming to a different, incomplete conclusion about the beast. That story comes to mind as I reflect on... Read more
Here we are in the middle of Lent and I’m stuck on hippies. I’ve always been fascinated by the 1960s. These were wild and momentous years, populated by colorful and absurd characters whose impact far outstripped their usefulness. But drop the whole psychedelic mess into the period of the Great Fast and a compelling comparison of cultures emerges, one that might change how we see ourselves. (more…) Read more
Our experience of God often changes, doesn’t it? Sometimes he seems angry, other times loving; sometimes comforting, other times convicting; sometimes close, other times aloof. It varies, which is tricky because Scripture tells us that God doesn’t change. So maybe — if you’ll forgive me for speaking for the entire human race — the problem is us. Scripture frequently associates God with fire. He appears in the flames of a burning-yet-unburned bush. He leads by a blazing pillar. Flame streams... Read more
Whether you’re talking politics, health, business, entertainment, or religion, it’s funny that a culture as skeptical as ours can be so fundamentally gullible. We can fall for nearly anything — anything but the truth. “In a materialist age like ours,” writes Malcolm Muggeridge, “nothing is real except what is false. (more…) Read more
At the dawn of the surprise-hit series Downton Abbey Mary Crawley has a momentary and tragic fling with a guest staying at her family’s estate. Opportunity presents in the form of the dashing Turkish envoy, Kemal Pamuk. Lust prevails, and her moral failure and the threat of its scandalous exposure form a good bit of the dramatic pulse that drives the story forward (more…) Read more
Paul Simon’s song “You Can Call Me Al” speaks of a man who sees “angels in the architecture.” The man’s vision is notable and different. He’s “a foreign man,” as the lyric goes, meaning that normal folk like you and me don’t see anything in the architecture but building supplies. So who has the better vision? The word supernatural is a new one, at least relatively so. It started circulating around the middle of the sixteenth century, before scientific skepticism... Read more
A woman sits in a church, her cheeks and breast wet with tears. She’s come from Sweden to this basilica in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, part of Provence, not far from the Mediterranean Sea. In Roman Catholic tradition, Mary Magdalene is believed to have come the region before her death. Her relics are preserved in the church (more…) Read more
The Apostles Peter and Paul both spent time in the hoosegow. While both were jailed for the sake of the Gospel, I find it interesting that they passed their time in different ways. Peter slept. Paul sang. In the first instance, as Luke records in Acts 12, Herod “laid violent hands” upon the Christians. He killed James, the brother of John, and then jailed Peter. (more…) Read more
Joel J. Miller
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In