For those who love the highest good that is God, there is a vertical dimension which transcends the horizontal. This makes to possible step outside of the escalation, to see the humanity in the other, and ultimately, to forgive. This allows us to acknowledge that while the goods of the earthly city are genuine goods, they are not ultimate goods.
Wendell Berry Introduction Wendell Berry (1934-present) was born in Henry County, Kentucky. Berry pursued his M.A in English literature at the University of Kentucky and went on to teach at several universities. Finding this life in the city unfulfilling, Berry and his wife Tanya decided to return to his roots. They “bought Lane's Landing Farm … Continue reading Wendell Berry: A Very Short Introduction
This is going to be a bit of a different post in that it is one intended more for a Hutterite audience. I assume other readers could benefit from this as well, but I see myself here as entering a Hutterite conversation. Incidentally, this post sort of serves as a summery of where I find … Continue reading 15 Thesis for Hutterite Renewal
This is a long essay I wrote to supplement some presentations I gave for Hutterites on the topic of technology. This essay is intended for a Hutterite audience and so uses Hutterite examples and assumes a communal context. That said, the insights of this essay could apply equally to any family or community who wants … Continue reading Hutterites and Technology
Readers might remember my earlier post from March 13, 2024, also entitled What we need is here. That post was an earlier draft of my entry into the Henry C. Smith Oratory Contest. The piece below is the version I actually delivered. I've also included a video my performance of the speech for those interested. … Continue reading Peace as Homemaking
I recently delivered this short reflection for a chapel service centred around the poetry of 17th century Anglican poet George Herbert. My reflection was on Herbert’s poem “Redemption” and is only tenuously connected to the poem. Herbert’s poem “Redemption” puts us in the place of a person saddled with an unpayable debt to a rich Lord. This, … Continue reading Your debt has been paid: A Sermon
This piece is a version of a speech I am entering for this year's Henry C. Smith Peace Oratorical Contest. I will have to make some changes to this speech to make it fit into the parameters of the contest, and I thought this version was good enough to share with my readers as is. … Continue reading What we need is here
“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say ‘look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” (Matt. 11:19) In thinking about the human relationship to technology, we often go wrong in two directions. The first is the error under which … Continue reading Gluttony, Fasting, and Feasting: Three Approaches to Technology
In her book Kill All Normies: Online culture wars from 4Chan and Tumbler to Trump and the Alt-Right, Angela Nagel argues that our culture is obsessed with transgression. What Nagel means by “transgression” is the constant attempt to frame oneself as “anti-establishment,” one’s art as “subversive,” one’s political views as “radical,” or one’s moral pronouncements … Continue reading Kill all Normies and Radicalism, Various Thoughts
Coffee with Kierkegaard 