Week 25 (2024)
sealed rooms of the past, natural law & theological beauty, women & sterility in the tech age, a father's day story, prayer, and advice
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to read: books
The Privilege Of Being A Woman — Alice Von Hildebrand — Thoughts.
Every Woman A Theologian — Phylicia Masonheimer — Thoughts.
to read: essays, articles, newsletters
How Phylicia Masonheimer Became Everyone Woman's Theologian — Seana Scott, Christianity Today — ““We are dedicated to showing multiple views and perspectives, being gracious to other denominations and traditions, and staying true to the Word of God” …She invites the theological oversight of her local church leadership and employs editorial work from theologically trained editors… women turn [toward] teachers when their tea and feel-good books studies don’t offer robust discipleship in their local church (or they simply stopped going a while ago).”
- , In Particular — “For beyond the rote method of argument and analysis, theology can be beautiful. It often is, in fact- “did not our hearts burn within us”? Theology might gesture to that burning heart. It can fan it into flame. If it succeeds, we might all warm ourselves from its heat.”
- , The Reformed Gadfly — “In my Christian experience, natural law refers to the moral imperative to live in accordance with one’s telos, or God-given purpose, and with one’s identity as a creature and imager of God. I have also seen scientific laws and moral laws placed together under the umbrella of natural law with God as the lawgiver.”
Artificial Wombs, Artificial Love —
, The Public Discourse — “We have become so accustomed to the ease of artificiality that we fail to recognize the momentous power of the real. The unspoken bias against vulnerability is that when the physiological needs of children make demands on adults, even mothers have a right to discount those needs when they become overly burdensome.”(related:
’s book Exogenesis, shared previously)Jacques Ellul, Prophet Of The Tech Age — Joshua J. Whitfield, Plough — “Ellul simply understands that the telos of the mechanism soon becomes all-encompassing, that simply being able to do something becomes the reason for doing it.”
- , Women’s Work — “Sterility culture loves experts… Remember that beauty is born of creativity and sterility hates beauty. Women are made to protect humanity from uniform utilitarianism and plainness.”
Women Around The World Are Being Butchered —
, The Credo Catholic — “This diminishment of female concerns can lead straight to hormonal birth control use, in-vitro fertilization, lifetime thyroid medication use, or a hysterectomy as a band-aid for a problem that could have been solved through medical and nutritional interventions. Scientific evidence should translate into better clinical practice… In addition, we cannot ignore our sisters worldwide who are giving up the organs that define their femininity so that they can be automatons in a system that feeds our consumerist Machine.”(added to the big ol' compilation)
A Son's Journey To His Father — Art Kusserow, Front Porch Republic — “…he often said that “working with your hands” was less desirable and somehow less admirable than “getting educated,” and he supported me being the first, along with several cousins, of our generation to receive a college education, though he never quite understood how studying psychology would be of any benefit. An apparent paradox: the thing I most admired about him, he devalued himself.”
On Father's Day, Remember The Fatherless — Alysse ElHage, Institute For Family Studies — “…here are a few suggestions for helping the children in our lives who are growing up without theirs.”
- , Mothering Spirit — “God of love, Today we ask your blessing on all who give their lives with a father’s love.”
Sealed Rooms Of The Past — Stephen Case, Fare Forward — “…but the Christian hope in a B-theory view of time is not that time simply gives way to eternity and the past is gone forever but rather that Christ will—has—thrown open the doors to all those locked rooms.”
(related: Finding Meaning In Time, shared previously — The essay is no longer retrievable, but I found it read aloud here. I happened upon it soon after my husband’s friend from college passed away from cancer two summers ago, with the reality of finitude that bubbles to the surface at such times. Pretty sure I wept and then thanked Jane for it.)
to watch, listen to
Changing My Mind: A Skeptical Professor Meets A Surprising God | Molly Worthen At Texas A&M — The Veritas Forum — This interview has a lot of overlap with the one below, but I didn’t mind a bit. It has had me thinking about
’s essay here, on the curiosity or conversion of public intellectuals toward traditions that have historically had a well-developed Christian anthropology, answering questions of telos (as in the natural law essay above). These are huge questions of our cultural moment. Molly is self-aware enough to know secular intellectuals like her are often drawn toward such traditions (the form of Christianity “respectable” in her circles would have, in her words, been Catholicism). Her thought process is simply intriguing and her joyful, clear-eyed spirit captivating. Somehow the space trilogy of Lewis and zoom calls with Keller were part of her bonkers conversion. This has also ignited thoughts rolling in my head about the real or perceived intellectual and/or class divisions among traditions and denominations, and how that is perceived by different types of people outside the faith.(related: What Happened To Molly Worthen?, shared previously)
Continuing On:
to glean from: tip, product, resource
Suctioning Out Splinters — Our eldest got a deep splinter last week that was not going to be helped by tweezers. My husband found this video, we loaded up the family to acquire a plastic syringe, and he made a first attempt. Needing more suction force, he attached the vacuum hose, secured with tape, tried again, and BOOM - splinter out. It was a bit terrifying but not painful, so far as we can tell.
to look back on
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Thanks for the shout out!
So many good articles here! I especially loved the essay on "How to Write Theology". I often think of how the Orthodox say that their liturgy is their theology. The hymns in the Divine Liturgy are rich with explicit theological teaching, but they're also full of beauty.
And thank you for introducing me to a new artist. These paintings are lovely!