Changed by Mystery
One painting grounds my spirit every time I see it. I have bookmarked the image on all my devices. I have written about it, researched it, and given lectures about it, but I have yet to put my finger on…
What Falls from the Sky: Interview with Esther Emery
I’ve followed Esther Emery’s work for several years, and appreciated her as both a writer and a friend. She has a habit of challenging me to think outside the box and this book, a memoir of a year in her…
Coloring My Prayers
When adult coloring books starting hitting the market, I was one of the first to think they were cool. I believed easily that they would help with stress, that a little time with some crayons or colored pencils might calm…
Black Mirror Shows Us Who We Really Are
For the first time in a long time, I feel like I found a TV show deserving of a new genre description. The show is BBC hit (and recent Netflix transplant) Black Mirror, and I call it exaggerated surreality. Black…
The Spiritual Practice of Fiction
When I first picked up Sensible Shoes, on a whim at the library, I had no idea what to expect. It’s a novel, yes, but it’s also a sort of spiritual retreat. This is like no Christian fiction I’d ever…
Atlanta is Not About You, and That’s Okay
“The dance that you’re doing is dumb… how they do it where you from?” — Missy Elliot, “WTF (Where They From)” In 2013, Donald Glover left NBC’s beloved cult classic sitcom Community, because after five seasons of playing…
Two Truths and a Lie
I. I signed up for Jazzercise classes. I knew I would do it as soon as I spotted the building down the street from where I live. I made fun of it at first to save face, but when…
The Conflict Within
Captain America: Civil War, and what to do when you stand at the edge of a cliff during a violent storm The character’s name is Vision. Undoubtedly it suggests a mystical, possibly divine insight into the truest nature of…
Walking in Thorny Woods
For a few years when I was a kid, Saturday mornings went like this: My parents dropped me off at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and North Boulevard and I walked to a health food store. There I ordered…