The headline on CDR this morning was that the Trump administration is thinking about restoring the ancient practice of requiring the use of biological sex on birth certificates rather than whatever it is a person would like to chose for the…um…self. The link under it is about public opinion in the UK, where, apparently, more and more people—and I guess I should also use that word advisedly—believe that other “people” should be able to change their identifying “species.” But, in... Read more
We’re back to our usual Monday morning haze, podcasting and bickering. We talk about Halloween, Christmas, Christians making laws for each other, Satan Worship, when its ok to let go of people and how that looks different for a Christian, and some other topics that I cannot, even minutes later, recall. I hope it sets you up for just the sort of work you both deserve and desire. Now, links. First up, here are all of Leslie Bustard’s classes that... Read more
This was making the rounds earlier—some young man in a flowery T-shirt leaning forward in his perfectly curated retro burnt umber chair declaring that all your sexual relationships are good and holy and that Jesus is very happy about them because of love. He mentions, amazingly, that the occasion is church, and if you squint you can see a table behind him and the well coiffed lady in yellow, displaying a sort of candle encased in wooden dancing figures, and... Read more
Friday? Is that you? One A miserable cold has struck some various members of my household. The big kids are complaining about their terribly unfair lives. The little girls are moping around, appalled that their noses are running and yet I still want them to make some vague effort in the direction of their own academic careers. I finally gave up yesterday, when they stared back at me from limpid pools of their pathetic streaming eyes, unable to remember the... Read more
Well, this is delightful. Turns out that Facebook’s “Portal”—I’m putting it in scare quotes because it is scary—will totally be able to record everything that you’re doing with its four face recognizing cameras, save everything it records, and direct advertising to you accordingly…and also sell all the reams of information it “harvests” to anybody that wants it for enough money. What a brilliant gadget. You buy The Portal—which is only meant to make Facebook messenger into a video option, which... Read more
Well, this is depressing, and so is this. The first is Ligonier’s State of Theology, which is bad by all accounts, and the second is that Jonathon Merritt piece about how much harder it is to talk about matters of faith than ever before. Both are the inevitable slow atrophying of a muscle that hasn’t in decades been properly exercised. And when you put it together with this—the rise of what some are calling expressive individualism—it is really no wonder.... Read more
Tuesday is the new Monday, even though Monday is the real Monday. It’s like having two Mondays in a week instead of only one. Anyway, I now have an eleven year old, a twelve year old, a fourteen year old and a sixteen year old, plus two little kids who act like they’re twenty. I feel kind of overwhelmed by all the sarcasm. I am so reaping the whirlwind. Being a nicer person probably would have been a good idea.... Read more
Good Moaning. We staggered home from church yesterday, and along with birthday shopping and other craziness did up a whole podcast about what you should read and what a bad thing it would be if you purposely misunderstood everything that you did read, especially the Bible, and what kind of person should you be anyway. Also, we argued about some stuff that I can’t even remember now. I’m sure it will set you up nicely on this rainy Monday morning.... Read more
I don’t know if you knew, but there was yet another royal wedding this last week. On Friday, Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank and I stood around in the church kitchen for more than an hour watching people in hats buffeted by high winds as they arrived and took their seats in Saint George’s chapel. Finally the bride also arrived and then I had to go do something real. So it was only much later that I spent myself, nor... Read more
It’s Friday. Did you even know? One Every August as I put my head down and plow, angst ridden, into the new scholastic year, I vow that this is going to be the year of success. This year, on my honor, I will do all the school and will succeed. We won’t careen from crisis to crisis. We won’t forget whole subjects. We won’t limp into the end of each quarter, panicked and anxious. We Will Do All The School.... Read more
Preventing Grace
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