Long ago, in a galaxy far away, I got my first taste of Star Wars at a cinema. I remember lines going around the theater and around the block to get in. My mother, correctly, saw that this movie was going to be one of those big cultural things that Read more
Narratives are story-like structures we create in our minds to organize events. They help us remember the events–and to make sense of them. And it turns out that many of the things most folks believe about love comes from narratives. And one of the best narratives in the world comes to us from The Princess Bride. Here is what this story showed me about love.
This week I’m going to be writing about love. It seems like a good time for it. Let’s kick off with these poems attributed to the Greek poet Sappho. She’s one of the poets I love most. Her work has always spoken so loudly to me. I discovered Sappho in Read more
I was noticing a weird similarity between an ongoing debate in gaming and the one that happened last week with Ken Ham and Bill Nye. In gaming, the hobby revolves around conflicts of some kind. That’s why “The Sims,” as fun and as long-lasting a franchise as it’s been, isn’t Read more
This is a love story, but it is not about another person. That would come later. This is a story about how I discovered a truth that somehow made its way into Christianity. This is how I discovered that why yes, perfect love does cast out fear.
Valentine’s Day is coming up, and with it, a middle-aged married person’s thoughts turn to love. I’ve changed a lot regarding how I think about love and relationships. It’s astonishing to me to think about some of the bizarre notions I used to hold about how to conduct a good Read more
Well, it’s happened. I have officially hit that age where I want to shake younger people by the shoulders and scream at them not to waste their beautiful, precious, oh-so-finite youth. I can hardly bear to see young people trapped in relationships that make them deeply unhappy, toiling away at Read more
When you’re helpless and at a serious physical disadvantage, your perceptions of potentially challenging situations can get a little skewed. Can you see why I’d see that and think immediately about religion?
If you were wondering what I mean by “Mary Sues” in a roleplaying environment, I give you Exhibit A. These are two attempts a player made to create a character for a Tolkien-based text-based online roleplaying game set in a gorgeous, lush forested area. I’ve changed none of his original Read more
Ken Ham and Bill Nye had a big debate recently. I was of two minds about watching the debate at all. It seemed like such a waste of time. I mean, really: it seems like Christian creationists get a lot more out of these things than the reality-endorsing folks do; Read more