“Ephphatha,” the priest explained during the recent baptism of a grandson, is Aramaic for “Be opened.” The word occurs in Mark 7:33-34, where some people in a crowd brought a deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus for healing. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and
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One of the most talked-about movies of the year, for so many different reasons, is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s “Odyssey.” The film has generated identity-politics controversies, classicist controversies, and Christian controversies (from Christians and anti-Christians). One of the lightning rods for arguments and thought-pieces is the proposed “Christianization” of Odysseus, illustrated by his guilt for the trickery of
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As someone who loves the Fourth of July and the story of our country’s founding, I was pleasantly surprised to see all the hoopla that came out of the woodwork last minute to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday. Firework shows were more fantastic, commemorative memorabilia abounded, and social media was full of people proclaiming their
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Of all philosophical questions, the deepest and most perplexing might be what to do with an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. The question of the purpose of human life coincides with the reality of daily living, with all its banality, boredom, and half-obscured beauty. I think humanity has a fraught relationship with the everyday. Ordinary, uneventful days
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If you’ve grown up in evangelical Christian circles, you’ve heard it: “John Smith has surrendered to missions in South Africa” or “Timothy Name has surrendered to the pastoral call.” Usually, the phrase involves the word “surrender” along with some widely accepted “spiritual” calling: missions, typically, but occasionally pastorship or some other form of ministry. Yet
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In Paul Clayton’s collection of short stories, “Seeing Sunny Again,” we meet Carl Melcher. It’s the early 1960s, and Carl, who will enter high school in a week or so, has spent the summer hanging out on a beach longing without success to find a girlfriend. On this particular evening, he decides to try his
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