The Author is with Us

There is nothing like getting lost in a story. I love so many different storytellers: from John Irving to JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis to Stephen King (and yes, Harper Lee)….Stories are deeply affecting–they arehow we define ourselves, our world, and each other. As I was reading through the Gospel narratives of the birth of Jesus […]

Seeing Advent as an Invasion (while listening to Sufjan Stevens)

Advent is an Invasion. Everything is beautiful this Christmas season. We even have snow on the ground in my neighborhood which is unusual this early in the year, but it really sells the Christmas lights lining the street and makes the holiday feel much closer. I drove home yesterday listening to the Sufjan Stevens Christmas […]

“Fasting” on Black Friday

Our culture’s remarkable dedication to Friday’s “religious” celebration has me thinking back to another story from severalyears ago. (You can read about reports of this Friday’s projected madness here: http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/22/pf/black_friday/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2) It was a crisp Tennessee day, November 28th, 2008, the Friday after Thanksgiving, when I rose early at my in-laws’ house to go for a […]