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Exploring culture, faith, technology, Kierkegaard, Ellul, etc. Sometimes snarky, sometimes way too earnest.
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- If Your Religion Teaches the Obvious, Then It's Not Much of a Religion
2025-02-03
The love to which we are called by Christ runs counter to any instincts we might have to love our family and friends. - What to Expect When You're Expecting Victory
2025-01-02
To those of us who follow the Gregorian calendar, today (January 1) is the only day that we pretend exists in its own un… - How to Have a Real Conversation
2024-12-26
The novelist Brandon Taylor, who writes a lot of interesting things in his newsletter, [[https://blgtylr.substack.com/p/… - How to Keep a Christian Christmas
2024-12-25
Rowan Williams in 2015: What we celebrate at Christmas is not the birth… - Ellul on the Void and the Wasteland
2024-11-18
So far in chapter 4 of Presence in the Modern World, "… - Ellul on the Death of Contemplation and Intuition
2024-11-06
So far in Chapter 4 of Presence in the Modern World, E… - How to Make Things Harder (And Maybe Better)
2024-11-02
There's an election of some alleged consequence barreling toward us in a couple of days, of course, and though I am tryi… - Judge William's Uncomfortable Truth (or, How to Read Kierkegaard)
2024-10-25
It seems to me that the most important factor in reading Kierkegaard is exactly how one does it. You can assume, as he… - Ellul on the Suicide of the Mind
2024-10-23
Continuing our read of Chapter 4, "Communication," we will return to the [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/ellul-on-the-ren… - Enchantment As a Framework for Culture War
2024-09-11
Recently there was an interesting exchange between Alan Jacobs and Brad East on "enchantment," or more accurately, "dise… - Ellul on the Renewed Mind and the Fog of Facts
2024-08-09
When I last wrote about Ellul's /[[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][Presence in the Modern Wo… - Frank O'Hara, "Nocturne"
2024-04-30
Is it April 30 already? My goodness, I'd hoped to post more poems during the month, but time slips away. Here is one mor… - R. S. Thomas, "The Absence"
2024-04-17
Today, instead of opening a book at random, or even flipping through to find a poem that strikes my interest, I turn to … - William Stafford, "Bess"
2024-04-10
[[https://bookshop.org/a/114694/9781555972844][]] I pulled down a copy of William Stafford's [[https://bookshop.org/a/11… - Jorge Luis Borges, "Everness"
2024-04-04
[[https://bookshop.org/a/114694/9780156654913][]] It isn't necessarily my goal to always cite poems to which I happen to… - Donald Justice, "On the Night of the Departure by Bus"
2024-04-02
It is April, which has been designated (by somebody, somewhere) Poetry Month, and given the importance of such Official … - Ellul on the Unreal Life
2024-03-22
Continuing, after an extended break, my read-through of Ellul's /[[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-w… - What We Encounter When We Encounter the Bible
2024-02-07
Growing up submerged in the evangelical sub-culture of the 1980s, which claimed, with a certain desperation, that the Bi… - Ellul on Being Alive
2024-02-06
By this point in our lengthy reading of Chapter 3 of Presence in the Modern World, perhaps you find yourself asking (a… - Ellul on the True Value of Means
2024-01-29
Continuing my read-through of Ellul's /[[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][Presence in the Mod… - Ellul on God's Unified Means and End
2024-01-17
Continuing my read-through of Ellul's Presence, we are still… - That Which We Measure May Be Forgotten
2023-12-29
It's the end of a year and a new one beckons, another way in which we humans try to control things by measuring them. I … - Books In and Out of Season
2023-12-11
I admire people like [[https://www.millersbookreview.com/p/classic-novel-goal-2023-update][Joel Miller who are able to p… - Ellul on the Illusion of Inner Freedom
2023-12-04
Continuing in chapter 3 of [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][/Presence in the Modern World/]… - Advent Begins. Or Continues.
2023-12-02
So Advent begins, the season in which we recognize the state in which we all live, all of the time – this /in-betweenne… - Ellul on Self-Justifying Means
2023-11-29
There was a time when society might grapple honestly with whether or not particular means were appropriate to a desired … - Ellul on the Disappearing End
2023-11-28
As we begin at long last Chapter 3 of Ellul's [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][/Presence in… - Ellul on Christian Freedom
2023-11-13
Having declared that "everyday facts" should be approached through the lens of a specifically Christian realism, rather … - Ellul on Christian Realism
2023-11-10
In the last section, Ellul called out the fact that Christians know "how the story ends" – with the Kingdom of God. But … - Ellul on Living into the Future
2023-11-02
Imagine you suddenly found yourself transported into the world of your favorite book or film, a new character in the mid… - Ellul on Being Christian in a Disordered World
2023-10-29
In last Sunday's gospel reading, Jesus responded to a question about taxes with his famous remark to give to Caesar what… - Ellul on the State of Permanent Christian Revolution
2023-10-27
Having explained his concept of "revolutionary spirit" and shown how most things described as revolutionary are mere pow… - Don't forget, you're alive.
2023-10-27
A few years ago, a high-concept app called WeCroak gained a bit of buzz in circles both ma… - Ellul on the Revolutionary Spirit Against the Facts
2023-10-26
Since chapter 2 of Presence in the Modern World is tit… - Determinism Means You Can Do Anything You Want
2023-10-17
I actually feel sorry for this guy. I have some … - Things Fall Apart, But the Center, It Holds
2023-10-12
Ellul wrote Presence in the Modern World during the very tumultous post-War period of the 1940s – a revolutionary era… - The World Is Ending Today and Yesterday and Tomorrow
2023-09-28
I grew up in the 1980s being told that the world was going to end at any moment because Jesus was coming back and he was… - Ephemera, 9/18/23
2023-09-18
Have been "blog silent" the last couple of weeks as I went through a rather hideous cold (which seems a very weak label … - Living in Reality
2023-08-31
I believe I've mentioned Alan Jacobs' book The Year Of Our Lord 1943 … - Ephemera, 8/31/23
2023-08-31
Justin E. H. Smith in his meandering essay on Generation X: "In … - Ellul: The World's Will Is Always a Will to Suicide
2023-08-30
Let's see if I can wrap up my notes on Chapter 1 of Jacques Ellul's [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-moder… - Ellul: Walking the Talk, Redeeming the Time
2023-08-26
A friend of mine who has been following along with my blog posts about Ellul's /[[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-… - Ellul: Thoughts & Prayers
2023-08-25
Let's continue on with Chapter 1 of Ellul's /[[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][Presence in t… - Ephemera, 8/21/23
2023-08-21
Yesterday's lectionary included Matthew 15, featuring the infamous Canaanite woman and the dogs-eating-crumbs metaphor. … - Ellul: Stop Making Sense
2023-08-21
Let's keep going with Chapter 1 of Ellul's [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][/Presence in th… - Ephemera, 8/20/23
2023-08-20
I have a personal interest in the [[https://road.cc/content/blog/very-long-road-paris-brest-paris-303311][Paris-Brest-Pa… - Ellul: Do Not Confuse Christian Ethics with Morality
2023-08-18
Returning to Chapter 1 of Ellul's Presence in the Modern World. (Remember, I'm taking these notes as I go, section by … - Ephemera, 8/15/23
2023-08-15
I recently read Clare Carlisle's biography of Kierkegaard; it was illuminating about Kierkegaard, but also a well-writte… - Laypeople of the World, Unite (I Mean, Unite Two Opposing Concepts and Hold Them in Tension)
2023-08-14
Continuing with my (extremely slow) reading of Ellul's [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][/Pr… - Ephemera, 8/13/23
2023-08-13
The title I used for the last post came from a Philip… - Passages: The Exit Door Leads In*
2023-08-12
Last night my husband and I saw Passages. It's our fifth film at a… - Ephemera, 8/10/23
2023-08-10
Maybe the real AI [[https://religionnews.com/2023/08/07/new-ai-app-lets-users-text-with-jesus-and-other-biblical-figures… - Ephemera, 08/07/23
2023-08-07
"Got a special celebration on your parish calendar? A.I. can compose a unique hymn for the occasion!" [[https://covenant… - We Cannot Solve Sin's Consequences by Human Means
2023-08-05
Resuming my read-through of Jacques Ellul's [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/presence-in-the-modern-world/][/Presence in t… - Kierkegaard as Poetry (Part 1)
2023-08-04
* Yes, It Is Nothing :PROPERTIES: :ID: 5f2ca32c-fee2-4461-b2d8-88e3bf9d636b :END: But what does this mean, what am I t… - Ephemera, 08/04/23
2023-08-04
Iain McGilchrist, in describing the left hemisphere of the brain, could just as easily be describing ChatGPT based on mu… - Ephemera, 07/27/23
2023-07-27
[[https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2023/07/27/return-of-the-exiles-a-how-to-guide-for-restoring-faithfulness-to-mainlin… - Ephemera, 07/26/23
2023-07-26
Seems to me that the sort of people who sneer at "old books" are the same sort of people who might find it [[https://www… - Ephemera, 07/07/23
2023-07-07
So now I'm thinking about reading Eric Ambler, because he … - Ephemera, 07/03/23
2023-07-03
Yesterday's Old Testament reading turned out to be t… - Ephemera, 07/01/23
2023-07-01
I didn't find the Harrison Ford digital facelift [[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/movies/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-… - Sin & Scandal
2023-06-30
Continuing my read-through of Chapter 1 of Jacques Ellul's [[https://ourhumanthoughts.com/tag/presence-in-the-modern-wor… - Ephemera, 06/29/23
2023-06-29
As William Deresiewicz writes, [[https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/unfuckable-hate-nerds-william-… - Salt, Light, Sheep
2023-06-28
Started reading Jacques Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World a while … - Ephemera, 06/27/23
2023-06-27
At Marginal Revolution, Al…
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