When I was 19 I had just started learning guitar and was trying my hand at writing some songs. I wasn’t that good at either the guitar or songwriting, (which is probably still the case…) since most of my instrumentation was limited to a few chords and my writing to vague and purposeless lines that…
read moreThe following is a guest post by my wife Megan. This year, I approached the Lenten season very differently than I have in the past. For the last 6 months my husband has been in and out of the hospital from intense chemotherapy and the day-to-day grind and “restrictions list” we have had to cope…
read moreI recently completed another freelance-ish Easter series entitled Easter Came Down. This is essentially a heavily stylized interpretation of the Anastasis icon, or Christ’s Descent into Hell. In this icon Christ is depicted, enveloped in glory, bursting into the realm of darkness and death and rescuing the entombed Adam and Eve to bring them to…
read moreOver the past two weeks Megan and I have been developing a Lenten series graphics package called Resist Easter. It’s an Easter meets the Screwtape Letters sort of thing, and brings a twist to the traditional approach to Easter by imagining the forces of darkness and evil forming an underground resistance to the Incarnation, using…
read moreI wrote a guest article for CreationSwap entitled Toward the Beautiful on the metaphysical underpinnings of beauty and how that relates to the role of an artist in the work of creating art. Check it out here.
read moreSince, then, we wish to have our hearer receptive, well-disposed, and attentive, I shall disclose how each state can be brought about. We can have receptive hearers if we briefly summarize the cause and make them attentive; for the receptive hearer is one who is willing to listen attentively. We shall have attentive hearers by promising…
read moreThis edition of my early church father’s paraphrases comes from St. Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus was born sometime in the early 2nd century A.D. and was a disciple of St. Polycarp, who himself was a disciple of St. John. Irenaeus was sent to Rome during the persecutions under Marcus Aurelius to Pope Eleutherius with a…
read moreThis installment of my early church fathers paraphrases comes from St. Hilary of Poitiers. For more information on his life, please visit my previous paraphrase from him. This selection comes from the tenth book of his work “On the Trinity.” ——————————————————————– Understanding God comes about by faith. The search into his mysteries is bounded by…
read moreThis installment of my church fathers paraphrases comes from St. John Chrysostom. St. John was born in Antioch around A.D 347. In his early life he was engaged in classical studies, but the influence of the bishop Meletius caused him to turn to the ascetic and religious life. He began as a lector in Antioch,…
read moreLove, we are told, is a many-splendored thing. This simple word can instantaneously evoke so many thoughts and emotions, as passion and affection, goodness and ecstasy ring around its guilded panoply. But brilliance cannot be beheld without balance, else it would blind rather than beatify. In the Gospels, Jesus is revealed in myriad images. He…
read moreThis installment of my church fathers paraphrase series comes from St. Peter Chrysologus. Not much is known of Peter’s early life or even his death. He was ordained a deacon by Cornelius the bishop of his hometown Imola. In A.D. 433 he was appointed to the bishopric of Ravenna by Pope Sixtus III. Peter had…
read more
![in[tents]1](http://deviantmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/intents1-460x310.jpg)
Protestations