Maybe you’ve heard this one: How many legs does a spider have? Eight? Do you really know? I mean have you counted them? In 300 B.C. Aristotle said that spiders had six legs and was classified as an insect. All the world believed him, until finally in the 1400s somebody actually counted and saw they […]
Sharing Stories and Hope: A Conversation with Melanie Hutcheson
Sharing Stories and Hope: A Conversation with Melanie Hutcheson Between Noah and The Record Keeper, this has been a tough month for the arts. Writer Nate Fleming explains some of the deep issues the Christian community has to work through, but artists and creatives are a resilient people. This week, I’m pleased to introduce you […]
About Noah—and What Happens After Trauma
This post mashes up a lot of things, including descriptions of violence, genocide, religious hatred, and religious apathy; literature and Christian hermeneutics; and mild spoilers for the new movie Noah (2014, Darren Aronofsky and Ari Mendel). Don’t read on if you haven’t seen the film yet and still intend to. Also don’t read if you’ve been struggling with […]
The Horror of Grace
Her church dean read the parable of the vineyard. And the children at Vacation Bible School protested the rules of the game. “Grace is not attractive,” she thought. “It’s not fair!” [Watch the video.] Once upon a time, I shared Brene Brown’s TED talk on vulnerability and shame with some relatives. The blowback I got […]
Beyond the Vote: Political Meta-narratives & Asking the People What They Think
In this talk, Eric X. Li offers a provocative discussion of political meta-narratives—the stories we tell ourselves about our political systems—based on his study of the People’s Republic of China. At 15:08, Li makes some bold predictions about China’s future in comparison to the US and peer nations within the next decade. I hope someone checks […]