Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tolkien tells us that while Bilbo and the dwarves were at Rivendell, “Their clothes were mended as well as their bruises, their tempers, and their hopes.” The longer I live, the more deeply I understand that hope needs mending. I … Continue reading →

Gandalf scratches a queer sign” on Bilbo’s freshly painted door. After a bustling invasion of hooded dwarves, Bilbo is upset by “a hard rat-tat on the hobbit’s beautiful green door. Somebody was banging with a stick.” Gandalf, we are told, … Continue reading →

Because I am an English teacher, I have always cared about the words we use to communicate the gospel. I am sensitive to how language and even the connotations change. What were once fresh metaphors dry out and lose their … Continue reading →

In a reent post, “Wild Roses, Garlic, and Wooden Crosses,” I remarked how in Stoker’s Dracula these natural things are important weapons against vampires.  The more I meditate on this use of the natural to overcome evil, the more I … Continue reading →

Dylan Thomas asked his dying father to “rage, rage against the dying of the light” and “to not go gentle into that goodnight.” Although not dying, just aging, I too rage.  I long to go to war for the happiness … Continue reading →

One of the most annoying current expressions is the apathetic “whatever”. It is a popular response of teens to parents. Said with a roll of the eyes and an exasperated sigh, it effectively communicates a bored contempt toward whatever has … Continue reading →

At Auburn University students in the architectural department are challenged to build a home on a budget of $20,000. The resulting home isn’t fancy (see Time Sept 30, 2013), but I found it interesting that they thought it important to … Continue reading →

In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus there is a wonderful bit of dialogue about creation. Faustus has sold his soul to Lucifer and part of the bargain was that all his questions would be answered. After answering a series of questions, … Continue reading →