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Today, on the kind of postcard-perfect fall day that only one who has lived through sub-zero winters can truly appreciate, I felt the magnetic pull to change my scenery, take it all in, get out and go. So pushing pause on all obligations for an hour or two, I hopped in the car and drove … Continue reading Liturgy of Longing

My six-year old son played soccer for the first time this summer. At his first practice, I dropped him off and watched from the fence as he lingered on the sideline, right cleat atop his ball, and watched the others enthusiastically drilling their shots into the small net. His coach greeted him with a warm … Continue reading A Prayer for Kindred Spirits

I recently read The Song Machine, John Seabrook’s startling book about the state of pop music in the digital era. Among other topics covered in the book, Seabrook spends quite a bit of time talking about the process of making hit songs for chart-topping pop acts like Katy Perry and Britney Spears. I’ll spare you … Continue reading Making Things Matters

  My two boys are little cups brimming with physicality. Most days our house looks like a war zone of plastic weapons and combat toys. There are lightsabers, Nerf guns, bows, and arrows, plastic superheroes, and plenty of battle cries. When we’re reading a novel like The Horse and His Boy, which we just finished, you … Continue reading Might With Measure: Some Thoughts On Masculinity

        My older son was born the same week as the Pixar movie Wall-E, and I’ve always felt a bond with the little trash-collecting robot. Like Wall-E, I’m a bit of a pack rat, I have a fondness for old musicals, and I have a tendency to run into things when I’m … Continue reading Fight for the Beautiful

Confession: When I first got serious about writing, I did the coffee shop thing. I’d take my laptop down to the corner Panera and park myself in front of the gas fireplace with the other soup-lovers and pound away at the keys, feeling more confident with every passing minute that I was a Real Author. … Continue reading A Room Like This One

I’m a sucker for the New. Whether it’s browsing the stacks of a bookstore and salivating at the tantalizing jacket copy, or streaming a 90-second clip of new music, the impulse to acquire is often too strong to resist. I cave; I buy; I apologize to my wife; I invest in more shelves; the cycle … Continue reading The Old Stories

Last year, a bunch of us art-loving folk gathered at my home church for something brand new - a day-long workshop-style arts camp for kids. I called it "Illuminate," to encourage children to remember their creativity is a gift from the Creator which allows them to share his light with their world. It was, admittedly, a bit of … Continue reading Illuminate Arts Camp 2016

He stands in front of me on the bed, shirt-tail sticking out, bed head spiky and matted, a little sleep in the corner of his eye. I lean in to pull him close and say goodbye before leaving for work, feeling his small arms wrap around my shoulders as far as they can reach. “You … Continue reading Like a Child

At the bottom of the map in the front of the splendid new edition of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, with illustrations by Jemima Catlin, the area devoted to Mirkwood Forest is labeled with the simple inscription, “There are spiders.” An un-cluttered description, to be sure, but for anyone who has read The Hobbit, you know no … Continue reading Here There Be Dragons