At Art House America, Shelly Miller writes about how Sabbath is an axis of rest in times of uncertainty: Walking past a sink full of dishes, a cluttered coffee table, and my writing desk with deadlines awaiting attention, I escape to the back porch, curl up on my damp couch in my pajamas, and savor each sip of steeping tea in my cupped hands. Listening to a cacophony of bird chatter with my eyes closed overrides all other senses. Slowly, I... Read more
My colleague and contributor to this blog, Alissa Wilkinson, is the chief film critic for Christianity Today. Check our her review of Boyhood, which sounds like a fascinating, unique (truly), and compelling film. I had not planned to see this film until I read Alissa’s review. Here’s how it starts: I don’t write these types of reviews too often, but this is one of them, so, heads up: come December Richard Linklater’s Boyhood will still definitely be one of my... Read more
Over at The Curator, Geoffrey Sheehy wrote about what his family learned about the theological metaphor of adoption . . . through adoption itself. I teared up in part because the sentiment echoed the reasoning I’d been using to explain why my wife and I were looking to adopt, reasoning I’d also acquired with a reading of Russell Moore’s Adopted for Life. The sentiment is sincere, touching and simple: Christians are adopted into God’s family, so they should identify with (and champion)... Read more
Over at The High Calling, Sam Van Eman remembers a family vacation – or, rather, not a vacation: In the meantime, I had been writing stories about my childhood, an era when my own dad spent more time at the bar than home. He had neither vacation time to take, nor interest in doing anything of the sort. With his old failures so prominent in my mind and physically written down inches away from our vacation folder on the desk, I... Read more
Over at Inc, Paul Brown writes about why staying busy isn’t the same as getting things done: Just because you show up at work every day and put in long hours doesn’t mean you are getting the right things done. In fact, thinking about the numbers of hours you work just confuses the issue. Time is not a factor. Quality, making progress, and accomplishing your goals is. The activity–going to work; returning countless emails; going to meetings–in and of itself doesn’t lead... Read more
I love books – so much that I devote considerable time to making lists of books I want to read. Over at Her.meneutics, the writers have done the same thing, and their picks – from fiction and memoir to spirituality and more – are wonderful. Go take a look, and pick up some recommendations for yourself! Read more
Happy Fourth of July! Over at Capitol Commentary, Stephanie Summers reflects on what it might look like to run a political campaign that savors public justice: As many Christians have developed an aversion to uncivil political discourse, our taste has been rightly cultivated towards civility, but not necessarily towards substance. This is a crucial distinction. What is often missing in civil campaigns is any desire on the part of citizens to hear from candidates their political vision for the good,... Read more
I just heard the news that Louis Zamperini died. In honor of his life, I thought I might repost something I wrote a few years ago, shortly after his biography, Unbroken, came out. Louis Zamperini: The Happiest Man I’ve Ever Known No, I’m not exaggerating. If you were to ask me, “Who is the happiest man you’ve ever known?” I would quite quickly answer, “Louie Zamperini.” As a boy, I attended the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Every now and... Read more
A great reflection from Leadership Journal regarding what we’re really missing when we feel nostalgic for college (the answer might surprise you): I miss my university years. It has been twenty-two years since I graduated from college. I went to a state school in a medium-sized Oregon farm town. For me, it was a fantastic experience and my four years there were among the most meaningful of my life. I cannot deny the fondness I feel. Is it just nostalgia?... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
The Creative Pair
We often think of creative geniuses – but what about creative genius pairs? The latest issue of The Atlantic looks at some, including John Lennon and Paul McCartney: For centuries, the myth of the lone genius has towered over us, its shadow obscuring the way creative work really gets done. The attempts to pick apart the Lennon-McCartney partnership reveal just how misleading that myth can be, because John and Paul were so obviously more creative as a pair than as individuals, even... Read more