Remembering the “Eternal” Legacy of September 11th
After viewing some of the 9/11 memorial coverage, I grabbed Bruce Springsteen’s album The Rising and listened to it onmy drive. One of the songs titled “Into the Fire”waswritten (at least I assume) in the perspective of a loved onewho lostone of the firefightersthat day: The sky was falling and streaked with blood I heard you calling me, and then you disappeared Into dust Up the stairs, into the fire Up the stairs, into the fire In the midst of all the horrific...
What is Your “Jerry Maguire” Moment?
I’m going to admit it. I am a sucker for Cameron Crowe films. I know what you’re thinking… Cameron Crowe movies are not real cool. I just love the way he tells a story. My favorite is the 90′s classic Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger and Cuba Gooding, Jr….but, it’s not because of the lame “you complete me” Hollywood-romance part of the movie, I promise. I love Jerry Maguire because of the vision… the one that keeps him...
How Well Can You Take a Punch?
My wife and I are casual boxing fans. We enjoy watching some of the bigger fights, especially with personalities like Manny Pacquiao and the British boxer Ricky Hatton (when he was in his prime). The famous fighter, Joe Frazier, passed away yesterday at the age of 67, and I was caught up watching highlights of him on ESPN. Frazier was ahead of my timeand I have onlyseen replays of his battles with Ali. But yesterday, as they showed footage of the fighter in his youth, I was struck...
Patriotism and Faith – Remembering our Profound Responsibilities
I am a patriotic guy. I enjoy the 4th, appreciate the people who dedicate themselves to serving our country, and am truly grateful for where I live. I have great respect for our Declaration of Independence, memorized the preamble to the Constitution in grade school and occasionally get teary-eyed during the National Anthem. I am fascinated with our history and have deep admiration for the way our Republic works. Having said all of that…those who wrap Jesus in an American flag...
Friday’s Five Good Answers: Your Questions (for me) about To Kill a Mockingbird and The Mockingbird Parables
As my journey discussing America’s favorite novel comes to a close over the next few weeks, I thought it would be fitting to repost this “Friday’s Five Good Answers” (from April) featuring your questions for me about Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, and my book, The Mockingbird Parables. Thank you again for the wonderful questions! I hope you will enjoy my candid answers and that it will shed light on why I set out to write about the characters and themes...
Are you living the “Gospel of Self?” Check out Friday’s Five Good Answers with Tim Willard & Jason Locy, Authors of Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society
Authors Tim Willard and Jason Locy met in 2004 while collaborating on a project for the Catalyst Conference. Over the course of the next several years, they became fast friends. Their conversations originally revolved around a mutual passion for music (especially Pearl Jam) and evolved into deeper talks about faith and cultural issues. Jason’s work in the world of design and branding and Tim’s job in the church provided a natural canvas for the dialogue that would...
Was Jesus a Heretic? The urgency of asking questions
Last evening, I sat down to watch a little of the news to get the latest update on the unspeakable tragedies in Japan. My children moved in and out of the room and didn’t seem to pay close attention to the television. Later on as I drove my oldest son to his practice, he began asking some questions about the earthquake, the tsunami, and the problems with the nuclear reactors. We talked for several minutes before he asked the most poignant and unanswerable question of all:...
Thoughts about Faith, Mourning & Loss: An excerpt from my next book.
I don’t think any of us can truly identify with the widespread heartbreak we are watching unfold across our television screens these days. I have been overwhelmed by the amount of tragedy on the news so far this year. I don’t know about you, but these events have made me contemplate times of mourning. As I sat down to write the blog, I remembered these lines from a chapter in my upcoming book. The chapter is titled “Raindrops over the Atlantic” and focuseson...
Friday’s Five Good Answers: Conversation with a Thoughtful Agnostic
It is unusual for most people (including myself) to take the opportunity to engage in genuine dialogue with those who have completely different world views. I find that we too often do not make the effort to truly listen to the perspectives of others. I have also discovered that many folks outside of ourtradition are justifiably reticent to share their beliefs in a forum like this one. I recently had the chance to sit down with a dear friend of mine to talk about his perspectives...
A Post- Valentine’s Day Lamentation…
One of my friends is a prominent journalist who writes about politics for several national magazines. He penned a funny op-ed the other year about the consumer pressures of Valentine’s Day and the challenges he experienced trying to find a last minute card and flowers for his wife. I think his readers laughed, but unfortunately his wife didn’t. So I approach criticism of Valentine’s Day with a little trepidation. I don’t want to be viewed as an unromantic...
Mockingbird Monday: Speaking for Harper Lee? What We Know About Mockingbird, Faith and Atticus’ Guiding Principles.
I wrote this article for the CNN faith blog about To Kill a Mockingbird and what it has to teach us about faith: http://bit.ly/hojmHy . The response was great, although much of the commentary was agitation that I would tie To Kill a Mockingbird and morality to Christianity (or any faith tradition, for that matter). I have taken great pains (out of respect to Harper Lee) tomake it clearthat The Mockingbird Parables does not speak for the author of TKaM; rather, communicates how...
