word | spirit | world | church
When I write on modernity, I suspect I give off the ‘vibe’ that everything was better in some golden age in the past. At the very least I sound like something is profoundly wrong with the moment in which we find ourselves. This codes me as ‘conservative’ in the broadest way: conservatives are those who… Continue reading On Nostalgia
Technology changes our lives. That’s a truism, you wouldn’t find anyone to disagree. The disagreement comes when we speak of particular technologies—whether pesticides or automated looms or Bluetooth speakers—and the particular ways they change our lives. Then we need to add an extra layer, not only are there specific ways that technologies change our lives,… Continue reading The digital world shapes us
Larry Crabb tells story after story in his book Shattered Dreams of people whose lives have been upended by grief and pain and the unexpected mundanity of living. Tears have become my deepest form of worship, some reflect. They discover deep desires for God, and then a new hurt on top of the cavalcade of… Continue reading God in the Pit
Have you ever felt like there was more to life than this? Known some sense of longing for the future? Perhaps you’ve enjoyed a great steak done exactly how you like it, or a really well poured beer, or the absolute delight of seeing your team triumphant in your favourite sport (Curling, in the Suffield… Continue reading Feeding our Longing
The modern story is one of autonomy: the path to human flourishing will be found in being most myself. I will achieve actualisation if I am my most authentic self, whoever that proves to be. At its very simplest it boils down to the Disney princess mantra, we follow our hearts. If that ruffles a… Continue reading Against Autonomy
If you’ve heard a sermon on the incarnation in a conservative evangelical circle I suspect there’s a high chance the preacher quoted C.S Lewis to refer to the Son of God condescending to take on flesh as “the Grand Miracle.” He is our patron saint, after all—despite not being one of us—so the reference is… Continue reading The Grand Miracle
“Silence is violence,” we are told—to not speak on a particular issue is to perpetrate violence against those affected by it. If that is true, how then do we cope with the silence of God? In the midst of our pain and our struggle, is his silence an act of violence against his people? Perhaps… Continue reading Deus absconditus
We all struggle. We all suffer. We all know pain. At the same time, we’re acutely aware that we don’t have access to each other’s struggles except as they are related to us. There is nothing more humanising than suffering—this is the human condition—and there is nothing more isolating. When Christians suffer, when we experience… Continue reading The Privilege of Pain
Everybody loves community, or they say they do at least. We live in a land that is parched of the life-giving water of friendship and stripped bare of many of the settings that used to make this easy for people. Robert Nisbet in his book The Quest for Community argues that what he calls a… Continue reading The Quest for Community
To the ancients, friendship was the crown of life and the school of virtue. To us, it’s both of you clicking a button on Facebook. How far we have fallen. That might seem overdramatic. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been accused of that, but I don’t think it is. God had declared our… Continue reading True Companions
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