“SLAVE.” The word, painted in a gray scrawl under an abstract skeletal figure, confronts me every time I walk into my house. Sometimes accusing, sometimes sympathetic, the painting hanging on the wall in our entry is both beautiful and disturbing….
OPINION: The glorious weight of gravity
Gravity is being hailed as a must-see movie. The IMAX experience is one of incredible beauty and thrilling danger. Most of us who see this movie will go for all of the tail-end-of-summer action adventure that it promises, but I…
OPINION: Women and the pastoral landscape
I can’t help looking at the little signs outside churches. “Faith makes things possible, not easy” has been the message on the board of the Methodist church near my house for two weeks now. Recently, something else has started to…
OPINION: Dealing with creative people
I’ve been reading different takes on “dealing with” creative people. It makes me laugh to see the advice people give. Usually it boils down to the equivalent of how to keep your pets entertained. “Dangle something shiny or give them…
OPINION: Implication or assertion
To me, this week’s news has been fodder for just about full-on depression. Reports of uncertainty and confusion surrounding Syria alternate with images of Miley Cyrus’s antics at the Video Music Awards, messing with my head a little bit —…
OPINION: Binge watching
The TV show Breaking Bad entered its fifth and final season two weeks ago. Many speculate that “binge watching” is in large part responsible for the growing success of the show. Thanks to Netflix, a subscriber can watch an entire…
OPINION: What are we willing to pay for?
Last week, Thom Yorke, lead singer of the band Radiohead, pulled his new album from Spotify in protest of the low return artists receive from the music-sharing site. Pandora and other such sites have similar practices, offering music free or…
OPINION: Of cucumbers and pickles
Until recently, I hated pickles. I didn’t like the smell or the taste but mostly it was the concept. I felt queasy about eating something sitting in a jar for who knows how long. It seemed too akin to embalming,…
OPINION: Art, existential questions and the heart of the church
It is time to bring the power of the arts to the heart of the church. The arts are one of the most powerful means by which we explore the human experience. Through the arts we mine the deep existential…