Category: Articles
-
Day of Wrath: Sweeney Todd and the Search for Salvation
Perversely, Sweeney seems to believe this type of purging will be his “salvation”, which he sings in the jarringly brilliant number “Epiphany”, as he challenges men to come and sit in his barber chair and be “welcome to the grave.” Read more
-
For the Glory of the Marines: The Life and Legacy of Major John Pitcairn
Major John Pitcairn was a man of many facets and paradoxes. In my exploration of his character over the course of my novel-writing, I have come to deeply respect his courage in battle, competence in his responsibilities, and humanity towards those under his command and even those who were opposed to him. Read more
-
Easter to Me: A Personal Reflection on Holy Week
My childhood memories of Holy Week, when Christians the world over commemorate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, are a kaleidoscope of images and impressions, turning from lighter colors to deepening hues. Read more
-
Christ in a Waiting Room: An Early Spring Spiritual Epiphany
The painting showed the body of Christ being taken down by the cross, about to be placed in the arms of the sorrowing mother, and all at once I imagined the tears trickling down her face and the blood trickling from his heart, and it felt that everything around me dissolved in that one moment. Read more
-
Our Love Must Make Us Strong: The Music and Mysticism of Loreena McKennitt
While no single religion may be able to claim Loreena for their own, I think there is no doubt that she is a deeply spiritually aware person, and has led others to search for God and the meaning of existence through her music. Read more
-
Slaves, Sons, and Submission: Christian and Muslim Understandings of God
As with verses from the Quran dealing with violence and warfare, it seems many Christians tend to emphasize the names of Allah that deal with dominance and power and de-emphasize or skip over others involving love, mercy, and forgiveness. Read more
-
Come, My Love: An Analysis of Thomas Merton’s Mystical Poem “Pass Through My Will”
The poem calls for the coming of the Divine Lover, as “all through the night I lay longing, eagerly to wait for love’s union”. There is no shame in this, but rather a reveling in the anticipation as it was meant to be, not cheap, not base, but holistic between body and soul. Read more
-
Abraham’s Sacrifice: Reflections from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Sometimes we see Abraham’s hand pressed over the boy’s face, as if to cover it, lest they make eye contact, and he lose his nerve to go through with the sacrifice. Some have the boy lying on his belly, his mouth agape, waiting in horror to have his throat slit. Read more
-
Scour the Horse Anew: An Analysis of G.K. Chesterton’s Epic Poem “The Ballad of the White Horse”
The White Horse on the hill is the main motif, a chalk etching against a grassy backdrop of Wiltshire, continually scoured by the English people so that it would not fade. Read more
-
Pilgrimage to a Small Island: A Britophile’s Memoir
On the plane, I cannot bring myself to look out the window before taking off. It’s too much, almost like claustrophobia of some sort, but not the fear I felt on the first flight over. It’s just pain now… and turning, looking for people to be there who I’m leaving behind. Read more
-
Paschal Mystery: The Death of God and the Paradox of Salvation
All sin, in a sense, “wounds” God, causes rifts in our relationship with Him. We pierce Him through the heart, and each other through our hearts, constantly. It has real consequences, and real restitution must be made before reconciliation can take place. Read more
-
God’s Good Chaos: A Reflection on the Problem of Evil
The problem of Evil is one of most staggering dilemmas for the human mind. If we define it as such, then we acknowledge a spiritual component, and yet if we do that, we also acknowledge a greater power which allows for the existence of this evil, or more specifically, anything in this world which is… Read more
-
Adam, Christ, and Evolution: Seeking Meaning in Our Primordial Past
The very fact that we are able to say “Thou” to God means that we are able to disobey and reject Him, to turn away from the “Eden” of spiritual union with Him and choose our own path of disorder. Read more
-
Good People and Paradise: Is There Salvation Outside the Church?
In order to get to heaven, is it only necessary that we be a “good person”? This is a question that has been asked, and slapped down, within Christian rhetorical circles on a regular basis. But perhaps we are too quick to do the slapping and less keen on analyzing what goodness truly means, and… Read more
-
Building a Bridge and Drawing a Line: A Way Forward for Traditional Religious and LGBT Communities
Is there any hope of a bridge being build between traditional religious communities on the one hand and the LGBT community on the other? I don’t believe there’s an easy answer to that question posed in Fr. James Martin’s controversial book entitled Building a Bridge. Read more
-
Mary and Fatima: Reflections on the Sacred Feminine in Christianity and Islam
Both Mary and Fatima are seen, in their respective traditions, as “queens of paradise.” And what is a queen of paradise? Perhaps it has less to do with crowns and scepters, and more to do with a certain fullness of being, a height of proximity to the divine light. Read more
-
The Talk of the Three-in-One: Meditations on the Trinity
Trinity Sunday is often joked about in Christian circle as that day anyone can easily fall into heresy via poor analogies for an incomparable mystery. Some insist the topic should not even be broached unless one has a theology degree, and even then it’s a matter that treads thin ice. I, however, take for granted… Read more
-
C.S. Lewis and the Calormenes: A Commentary on Narnia’s Arabesque Baddies
But Lewis wasn’t in it for accuracy as much as to spin a colorful yarn that stoked the imaginations of mostly Western, Christian children. And if the spine-tingling savagery and exotic delights of far-flung locales could add flavor, more power to them. Read more
-
Star of the Sea: Marian Devotion through the Prism of a Medieval Hymn to the Virgin
I find particular inspiration in the soaring poetry of the Middle Ages in honor of the Virgin and believe it to be a wonderful method of sharing the Catholic understanding of Mary’s place in the Christian life and why we pay her homage. Read more