Today is Good Friday, the day Christians remember the death of Jesus on the cross and its meaning. Usually, on this day, I find a quiet place to read one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, a place where I can focus, reflect, and pray. But, today I find myself in a very different place. I’m sitting in Barrington Coffee in South Boston. As I read the familiar story of Jesus’ crucifixion, I’m interrupted by the commotion behind me... Read more
A poem for this day. Descending Theology: The Crucifixion By Mary Karr To be crucified is first to lie down on a shaved tree, and then to have oafs stretch you out on a crossbar as if for flight, then thick spikes fix you into place. Once the cross pops up and the pole stob sinks vertically in an earth hole perhaps at an awkward list, what then can you blame for hurt but your own self’s burden? You’re not... Read more
Over at The High Calling, Gordon Atkinson provides some help for those who are looking for aid in contemplating the passion of Christ: If you have been a Christian for many years and are familiar with the story, you are at a great disadvantage. Try to forget that you already know every detail of what you are hearing. Let yourself become a child again. Grownups might fully understand and explain the meaning of this story, but you don’t have to.... Read more
Seersucker: the fabric of summer (and summer is coming!). The Curator recently republished a tongue-in-cheek reflection on seersucker and irony and a few other things: More than anything, to wear seersucker well you have to believe in it — own it 100%. No hesitation; no waffling; no backpedaling. If you walk into an H&M, see a seersucker jacket and think, I’m gonna buy that; it looks cool, then you are in for a world of regret. Fashion is a lot like cuisine.... Read more
I read a fascinating piece in the New York Times this morning: A Question for Seder: What Role for Screens? by Jennifer Medina. This raises all sorts of questions about the use of technology in the exercise of faith. Here’s the set up: For many Jewish families, this Passover night will indeed be different from all others. As they gather around the dinner table on Monday for the Seder, some families will forgo passing around wine-stained copies of the Haggadah,... Read more
For Western Christians (even those from not-very-liturgical traditions), this week is Holy Week, in which we remember the days that led up to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Over at The High Calling, they ran a series of posts on observing Holy Week. Laura Boggess reflects on at “a week of holy”: A week of little deaths, that’s what Holy Week is for us, and I think I understand why the Orthodox Church calls the season of Lent the Bright Sadness.Celebration and... Read more
In odd Friday news – did you know that a popular competitive sport in the 1870s and 80s was . . . walking? NPR has more: “In the decades after the Civil War there was mass urbanization in the United States [with] millions of people moving into the cities,” Algeo tells NPR’s Robert Siegel. “And there wasn’t much for them to do in their free time, so pedestrianism — competitive walking matches — filled a void for people. It became... Read more
In the New York Times last weekend, Nicholas Kristof – looking ahead to graduation season – wrote about a book written by Mary Keegan, an emerging writer who died tragically two years ago that prods the reader to think about their life direction: Keegan recalled being paid $100 to attend a recruiting session at Yale by a hedge fund: “I got this uneasy feeling that the man in the beautiful suit was going to take my Hopes and Dreams back to... Read more
I’ve reflected a bit lately on how we often assume that if something is difficult, we’re doing it wrong and need to change course. While that’s true for some things, of course, we sometimes forget that many things are difficult because they’re worth doing – work, projects, relationships. Over at The High Calling, Charity Singleton Craig reminds us of this fact when we’re moving beyond mediocrity: Recently, though, I decided to make a change. It’s a small thing, really, but... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Confessions of a Christian Film Critic
I’m a Christian and a film critic, so I found myself nodding along the whole way through Ann Hornaday’s “Confessions of a Christian Film Critic” over at the Washington Post: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” It may come as something of a surprise for Washington Post readers to learn that these are the words I silently invoke every time I sit down... Read more