Middle Linebacker
A smattering of autumn yellow in the trees lining the quad banners waving gaily above the stadium framed by clear blue sky the marching band plays the…
The Tension Between Good and Evil in “My Father’s House”
The continued fascination with Nazi Germany in every form of art and media is, in part, rooted in the mystery and allure of evil. It is so…
No Stargazing Here: On Margaret Atwood’s “Old Babes in the Wood”
Margaret Atwood is best known as the author of A Handmaid’s Tale, but she has published over forty works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, short stories, and children’s…
Time Caught in the Broken Things
We thought those old cars could never die smiles grimly given tobacco juice brown and bitter curses drawled under the breath the foundation of things. --broken crankshaft,…
Seeking the Transcendent and American Cinema
“To be a person is to be transcendent. We therefore know about the transcendent, God, only because we participate in that mode of being.” - David Walsh,…
I Can’t Eat With Jesus
Jesus is in this northern mining town he walks the street at night beneath the streetlight’s muted glow missing a few teeth. He’s always alone, and when…
When I Met the Wolf: A Poem
I skied beneath the light of the moon through forest and clearing my dog ahead startling rabbits and partridge to flight— to our mutual delight— Mars piercing…
The Romance of Transcendence
Eric Voegelin’s introduction to The Ecumenic Age is a rich, evocative piece of writing. Regarding religious structures, Voegelin was concerned about the “doctrinization of symbols” that impede…
The Logic of the Cross in Michel Tournier’s “The Ogre”
In the realm of Catholic or Christian literature, one question I have never seen confronted directly is whether a writer necessarily needs to be devout within a…
An Antidote to Allan Bloom
A recent essay republished at VoegelinView provided an informative critique of Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind.[1] I read Bloom’s book twenty years ago. It was…
Dumpster Diving for T.S. Eliot
Last year I wrote of my experience jumping into a school’s dumpster in order to rescue books that had been thrown out for reasons unknown to me.[1]…
Hope in the Midst of Despair and Tragedy: Tomson Highway’s “Permanent Astonishment”
Tomson Highway. Permanent Astonishment. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. 2021. The political and social landscape in Canada was knocked sideways in the spring of 2021 with the locating…
Being Called Beyond the Wall
The Four Wise Men. Michel Tournier (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1997). The gospel stories are about movement—Jesus comes to a town, crosses to the…
Raimon Panikkar’s Christophany: Living in the Pilgrimage of Incarnation
Raimon Panikkar (1918-2010) was a Catholic Priest with family roots in Spain and India. He was an accomplished scholar in a variety of fields who was comfortable…
Turning From the Shadows: John Masefield’s Everlasting Mercy
The Everlasting Mercy. John Masnfield. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. While completing Master’s work in the mid 1990’s, I befriended an older Rastafarian from Jamaica. When…