National Review Online recently published a piece by Kevin Burke on Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith fame) and his traumatic early experience with abortion. Tyler met a girl named Julia Holcomb at one of his concerts in 1973, when he was 25 and she was 16. They immediately became an item, and Tyler became her legal guardian, moved her into his apartment in Boston, and conceived a child with her. The story said that friends convinced them they should have an... Read more
I’m relaunching a series I’ve done on other blogs called Sunday Funnies. So, throughout the week I’ll collect the funniest videos or articles I’ve come across, and put them together into a blog that will publish at 5am Sunday morning. For a little taste, I share something I’ve seen passed around on Facebook today. This kid’s hilarious. I love how his father eggs him on. Whether we’re seeing the next Ronald Reagan, the next Fidel Castro (the vaguely militaristic way... Read more
Recently a well known Christian blogger, Rachel Held Evans, offered some thoughts on concepts of biblical womanhood and beauty, responding in part to comments from Mark Driscoll and to books by Martha Peace and Dorothy Patterson. Evans alleges that there is a fairly common de facto teaching in Christian circles that “is as clear as it is ominous: Stay beautiful or your husband might leave you. And if he does, it’s partially your fault” (the bold type is hers). This... Read more
Art, profundity, transcendence, these things come in many forms. The entries so far in my “Everyday Transcendence” series have all focused on music. Today I want to focus on the beauty of a life well-lived in the midst of suffering. To bring a child into the world is to take an enormous risk. I’ve written elsewhere that we have children because love overflows. We’re created in the image of a God who is Love, a God whose love overflowed with... Read more
I cannot tell you how many times I have stood in awe before mountains and canyons, forests and cliffs, rivers and seas, marveling at the sublime majesty of God’s creation and the incomprehensible power and intelligence that must have been required to conceive such wonders and bring them into being. Yosemite National Park, the northern California cliffs, the towering redwood groves — all led my soul to magnify the Lord. I remember laying in my sleeping bag atop Half Dome... Read more
A piece from our symposium on faith and the future of social conservatism — Warren Cole Smith’s explanation of why he does not believe that he, as an evangelical, can support Mitt — has upset some Mormon readers of Patheos. And some non-Mormons too, for that matter. My hope is always, even when people are offended, to continue the conversation and come to a better understanding of one another. When it came to my attention that a response piece was... Read more
Some of the intersections of faith and politics are so littered with landmines that it’s virtually impossible to navigate them without taking some shrapnel in the legs. People of faith and good will must discuss them, however, if they’re matters worth discussing, lest we leave the conversation to those who simply enjoy or actually profit from setting off explosions. So please bear with me. I’m about to draw a parallel that could easily be twisted. The parallel is not between... Read more
Andrew O’Hehir at Salon recently penned a review of Soul Surfer entitled, “Why are Christian movies so awful?” He calls Soul Surfer “a trite, sentimental puddle of sub-Hollywood mush, with mediocre photography, weak special effects and an utterly formulaic script.” Christian cinema, he says, is “permanently stuck in 1986, with a self-ghettoizing mandate to present positive role models for youth and tell an anodyne but uplifting story that sends a message of hope.” My first inclination was simply to ignore O’Hehir. How... Read more
I’ve always had a soft spot for folk music. The sincerity, the lyricism, the simplicity of a musician and an instrument, the preference for elegant craftsmanship over big-budget production values, all appeal to me. Plus, I’ve also stated that this Everyday Transcendence series might often be called Music for Melancholiacs, and folk music lends itself to the kind of pensive, melancholy songwriting that makes my life both heavier and lighter to bear. Well, Patty Griffin is one of America’s finest... Read more
Oddly enough, Harold Camping chose the International Business Times to be the conduit for his message that he will deliver a statement by tomorrow evening on the reasons for the failed prediction and how he is responding to it. Camping, says the IBT, looked “dazed and confused,” and “said he needed some time to think and recover.” He told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was “flabbergasted.” I don’t doubt it. I’ve never listened to Mr Camping’s radio program, and... Read more
Philosophical Fragments
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