Archive for 2017

Last night my wife and I watched the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility.  Emma Thompson’s screenplay won her an Oscar.  Sense and Sensibility is the third Jane Austen novel that I have read (My wife has read them all.), and, while good, literarily, and especially stylistically, it comes in a distant second to Pride and Prejudice.

To prefer Pride and Prejudice to Sense and Sensibility is no surprise, but I would like to make the bold and daring assertion that the movie version of the latter is better than the novel. Read the rest of this entry »

During this season when many Christians have been observing Lent, I have been ruminating on Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal or Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32).  In this, I have been helped by Henri Nouwen’s, The Return of the Prodigal Son.   I have reached the conclusion that contemporary culture grossly, even fatally, has misunderstood the love of others as acceptance without forgiveness. Read the rest of this entry »

Donald Trump’s election is undoubtedly one of the most controversial in the history of American politics.  Out of the many criticisms that have been made I would like to address three: the potential for conflicts of interest because of Trump’s large and varied business enterprises, the injustice of the Electoral College, and finally his appeal to “angry white men.”  In examining these issues, it behooves us to rise above the biases of partisan politics and the immediate concerns, even legitimate ones specifically about Donald Trump, lest we miss the fundamental issues involved and their long-term consequences. Read the rest of this entry »