Andy Crouch, Mick Jagger, & C.S. Lewis
I’ve had a hard time not taking personally Bill’s musings on Andy Crouch these past three weeks. Yes, the generation of which I am a member – Boomers – is the generation that elevated instant gratification to the chief place…
BP and Bach
Bill’s sermon last Sunday reminded me of Garrison Keillor’s editorial “BP and Bach” published June 2 in the New York Times. Keillor is the longtime host of NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” available on radio (yes, radio is still around!) every Saturday…
Bring back the Sabbath
When we moved to Austin in 1994 from Switzerland, our family thought we were coming home. As Americans in Switzerland we had been strangers in a strange land, cut off from the English language, college football, Tex-Mex and other such…
The power of poetry illustrated
Reading Peter Hitchens' comments on the power of poetry (see Hitchens & Hitchens below) reminded me of John Updike's beautiful "Seven Stanzas at Easter." He wrote it when he was 28 for his church's Religious Arts Festival and won the…
Discussion Questions for Avatar
Seen the movie? Read the review. Consider the following: What did watching "Avatar" leave you thinking about? Discuss your first impressions here, not your considered conclusions about the film. On one hand "Avatar" is an other-wordly fantasy. On the other…
Discussion questions for A Serious Man
If the review of "A Serious Man" below piqued your interest in watching the movie, here are some questions you might consider for your own, personal reflection; or, better yet, for discussion with friends. What were you thinking about as…
Why, perhaps, you should see Avatar
I know all the good reasons not to. Yes, the story’s been told before—and better—in "Dances with Wolves." Lonely American serviceman meets beautiful native girl who opens his eyes to a new way of looking at the world and in…