Introduction: As we continue meditating on the meaning of Advent, we are not really resisting attempts to make Christmas meaningless as we are fighting with alternative meanings. There is no such thing (in the last analysis) as a vacuum holiday, a celebration without a point. Attempts to neutralize Christmas are simply an intermediate step—and the …
And the Problem is not With the Non-Readers
“And modern poetry is read by very few who are not themselves poets, professional critics, or teachers of literature” (C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, p. 96).
Evolution as the Devolution of Gratitude
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Make a joyful noise to God, all nations; Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him overflowing with music. Know that He is God; He is the one who fashioned us; We did not evolve by ourselves, We did not climb to …
Moleskins at SkyCow
If you are close to a writer, here is a great gift idea for commonplaces. I keep one of these in my briefcase, and when I run across an odd phrase that makes me think of another odd phrase, or an odd phrase just pops into my head, I make a point of writing it …
Building Her House
And the collection of columns that Nancy wrote for Credenda is also in. This one was printed with two different covers, so don’t let that fool you. Same book, two covers.
A Prayer of Imprecation
One of the easiest things in the world to misunderstand (and therefore to misrepresent) is the biblical pattern of imprecatory prayer. It is very easy to interpret the practice as some kind of primitive voodoo doll custom, practiced only by the petty and vindictive. But for those who are open to a very fine treatment …
Spiritual Disciplines in Narnia
The topic before us now is “spiritual disciplines” in the Narnia stories, and I have to begin by explaining the topic perhaps a little more than some of the others. Spiritual disciplines are those practices which should be practiced on a daily basis, so that they become habitual, with the result that you are prepared …
Nobility in Narnia
What does it mean to be noble? What is false nobility? And what does it mean to fail in nobility? These are all questions that will be answered if you read the Narnia stories they way they really ought to be read. Like Shasta in The Horse and His Boy, we too often have a …
Making the World Safe for Fornication
“Peggy Noonan concluded after looking at public policy crusades during the twentieth century, that the real goal of every liberal movement is to ‘make the world safe for fornication.’ Get enough fornication going and you get a lot of people too frightened to approach God because of their guilt . . . As with the …
A Spate of New Books
I mentioned in a recent blog post that a spate of new books from Canon Press was about to arrive. Well, they are all at the printers, and so you can start ordering them now. In fact, on most of these, if you order now they have a deal on shipping costs. Take a gander. …