Hi, readers. Do you hate having a cold? What does it mean to get one? What does its commonness mean?
This week I wanted to share with you my latest publication. My essay, “The All Too Common Tyranny of a Rhinovirus,” has appeared in the Spring issue of Medical Literary Messenger.
I know what you’re thinking: Don’t go there. The Netflix hit Don’t Look Up is a political satire and an allegory for climate change. There is no Christian subtext.
Ok, the movie obviously wasn’t written by a baptist studio, an evangelical media startup, or Kirk Cameron. It was written by a liberal comedian. And the idea of a random comet hitting earth and destroying all human life for no reason contrasts with the end-times beliefs of most Christians, not to mention the disbelief in climate change by many—but not all—evangelicals.
It looks like a fun game, really. I like the colors. It’s kind of like a mandala. But let’s be honest, the aspect of throwing dice is too much a cause of negligence, and neither I nor my disciples will participating in anything that is a cause of negligence.
So that’s a big “no” on Farkle and Yahtzee a well. Sorry, but that rules out Sorry as well. You are free to bring out the Bunco box, but I and my disciples will be abstaining this evening.
Will you pass the hummus? And some of those baby carrots.
I hear that you are a blindfold chess champion. Props to you for that. But I cannot walk the eight-fold path and play an 8×8 tile game on a board simultaneously. It is a mockery.
Yeah, put some of of those pretzels on my plate. There you go.
You know, one thing I always appreciated about Spider-Man is how universal and balanced his character is. He’s super but normal, friendly yet amazing. His main theme is always the same, in case you didn’t know the first time:
With great power comes great responsibility.
So why give us the same message every time? Is it a lack of creativity? I actually think it’s because the story needs to be told again and again. Repetition is how we educate the young. Repetition is how we persevere in the face of obstacles. Repetition is how we grow in our talents. Continue reading →
While one of the most famous Christmas stories of all time, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol sometimes comes under criticism for weakly addressing the problem of poverty. The complaint goes like this: Ebenezer Scrooge is but one person who learns an individual lesson, and that lesson is for private individuals to be a bit more charitable. One day a year. Thus, the Dickens classic tosses a breadcrumb to the poor, but doesn’t do a thing to address serious social ills. A sentimental tale, but a moral flop. Continue reading →
I’m not a real big Starbucks fan. Their coffee is okay. I don’t have real strong opinions about them. But about fourteen years ago, for about a day, I decided to form a strong opinion about Starbucks.Continue reading →
The Daniel Craig era of Bond films is over, and there’s no question he changed the franchise more than any actor since Connery. Of course it was also the work of writers and directors, who constantly had to redefine a Cold War character. In the span of five films, we saw the rebirth, new life, and passing on of an icon: 007. The last of these films brought the story arc full circle.