If It's Not One Thing, It's Another!

The other night I went to see Terence Malick's new film The Tree of Life, which was being shown at the new campus cinema. I ought to see it again before I write about it, but I'm not sure I want to see it again very soon, and anyway its run is over now. So here goes. If you haven't yet seen the movie and want to approach it without a minimum of foreknowledge, you should stop reading now. The

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another!

The other night I went to see Terence Malick's new film The Tree of Life, which was being shown at the new campus cinema. I ought to see it again before I write about it, but I'm not sure I want to see it again very soon, and anyway its run is over now. So here goes. If you haven't yet seen the movie and want to approach it without a minimum of foreknowledge, you should stop reading now. The

Remembering the Bone House

Nancy Mairs isn't the most prolific writer, and it would be easy for me to lose sight of her. It helps that a few of her books sit on my shelves near the door at about eye level, so I notice them now and then. She doesn't write bestsellers, so I am less likely to find her latest books prominently displayed in the bookstores. And as I get older, time goes by quickly, so it only recently

Remembering the Bone House

Nancy Mairs isn't the most prolific writer, and it would be easy for me to lose sight of her. It helps that a few of her books sit on my shelves near the door at about eye level, so I notice them now and then. She doesn't write bestsellers, so I am less likely to find her latest books prominently displayed in the bookstores. And as I get older, time goes by quickly, so it only recently

Step on a Crack, Break Your Mother's Back

It's possible -- no one has proven that it's impossible, anyway -- that the universe is a vast booby trap, designed and constructed by a cosmic practical joker waiting for us to make a misstep so he can jump us while holding us responsible for our doom. It's possible that the universe is set up so that it's possible to kill a human being in such a way that it's impossible for them to go to

Step on a Crack, Break Your Mother's Back

It's possible -- no one has proven that it's impossible, anyway -- that the universe is a vast booby trap, designed and constructed by a cosmic practical joker waiting for us to make a misstep so he can jump us while holding us responsible for our doom. It's possible that the universe is set up so that it's possible to kill a human being in such a way that it's impossible for them to go to

Wishin’ and Hopin’ and Thinkin’ and Prayin’

(Sorry for the visual distortion in this clip; I couldn’t embed the letterboxed version. The wedding imagery reminds us that the Church is the Bride of Christ, and if you imagine the third-person pronouns with initial capitals [“Wear your hair just for Him … You won’t get Him thinkin’ and a-prayin’ …] you have quite a kinky little hymn on your hands.) My text today, dearly beloved, is

Wishin’ and Hopin’ and Thinkin’ and Prayin’

(Sorry for the visual distortion in this clip; I couldn’t embed the letterboxed version. The wedding imagery reminds us that the Church is the Bride of Christ, and if you imagine the third-person pronouns with initial capitals [“Wear your hair just for Him … You won’t get Him thinkin’ and a-prayin’ …] you have quite a kinky little hymn on your hands.) My text today, dearly beloved, is