No. 10
CONTENTS
E s s a y s
A Theology of Things
Gina Bria
Experiences and memories are composed of the places and things which populate
them. Yet, in our haste to spiritualize experience, we are apt to lose
these very memories by the loss of our sensual touchstones. The things
that surround us have a theological power to lead us to recollection,
thereby deepening our apprehension of the spiritual.
Notes on Drowning
Doug Frank
"Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies..." The paradox, "If we
are to find life in God, we must drown" is one of the hard sayings of
the Christian life. We long to believe that the world is a safe, comforting
place, but are sometimes brought face-to-face with the bald fact that
all creation conspires to bring us to a realization of our helplessness.
Yet, we, like Jonah, may find the Father at the bottom of the sea.
Studies
Art and Christian Spirituality:
Companions in the Way
Luci Shaw
"Does art impact our spirituality? Does spirituality affect our art? Yes.
And yes." Art, a widening of the imagination, lays bare the world, exposing
the complexity beneath. As our eyes and ears are attuned to the work of
the Spirit, we catch glimpses of that which is unseen, detect echoes of
that which lies just beyond our range of hearing, and we behold a God
who irresistibly draws us from the mundane into the realm of the sacred.
Searching for Our Fathers
Don Hudson
What do we want from our fathers? What are they truly able to give us?
In this study of The First Man, Camus's unfinished masterpiece,
Don Hudson describes the seasons of abandonment, engagement, and pursuit
that characterize our relationship with our fathers, and with the Father.
Resurrection Face
The Addict and the Artist
Sharon Hersh
Addicts have chosen to exchange the freedom of living in a contradictory
world for a condition resembling the enforced confinement of a prison
camp. They have chosen counterfeit ecstasy over inevitable despair,
self-loathing over the gift of grace, and an illusory "present" over
the hope of an unfathomable eternity. Emancipation comes with the willingness
to live in the desperate tension of paradox, transforming the addict
into an artist.
The Mars Hill Interview
Ultimate Concerns
A Conversation with Irvin D. Yalom
Bruce Ramsay
Awareness of death, desire for meaning, fear of existential isolation,
flight from autonomy -- these are the "ultimate concerns" that linger
in the depths of the subconscious. Noted psychiatrist Irvin Yalom has
for many years labored to bring these preoccupations into the field of
psychotherapy. In this lively conversation, Dr. Yalom summons Heidegger,
Sartre, and Kierkegaard to make a case for the exploration of classic
existential categories in the therapy hour.
Reminders of God
The Writing Life
Fiction
A Deep, Black Joy
H.E. Francis
Nonfiction
Bad Host, Addled Guest
Kevin Heath
Grandma’s Cookbook
Stuart C. Hancock
Poetry
“The Coiled Spring”
Luke Schelhaas
“Four,”
Paul Willis
“Spring Herons”
John Leax
“Further in to Fleckness”
James Durell Shivers
“Hands”
D.S. Martin
“Hail the Daisy”
Grace Holdom
“The Lame Priest’s Exegesis”
Bryan D. Dietrich
Views and Reviews
Music
Essay: Dylan Revisited
Douglas Thorpe
Reviews: Bob Dylan, Time out of Mind
Brent Short
Fiona Apple, Tidal
Eric Von Fullgraf
Music Also Reviewed
Douglas Thorpe
Books
Essay:
The Prodigal Son
at Home in Lake Wobegon
Joy Alexander
Reviews:
Asylum, Patrick McGrath
James A. Sparrell
Mount Misery, Samuel Shem
James A. Sparrell
The Angel of Darkness, Caleb Carr
James A. Sparrell
The Secrets of Barneveld Calvary, James Calvin Schaap
Joey Earl Horstman
Books Also Reviewed
Judith Terry McCune
Film
Essay: "Real" vs. "Reel":
Religion as Art and Idea in the Films of Woody Allen
Joey Earl Horstman
Reviews: Boogie Nights and The Ice Storm
Scott Sawyer
Films Also Reviewed
Sheryl Cornett
Risvolti
Timeless graffiti from the broad canvas.
Mars Hill Contributors