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An Afternoon at the Museum: Art, Artifacts, and the Church
The day after Christmas was my sister and brother-in-law’s last full day in the cities before returning to Seattle, and they were itching for something to do. All the museums we frequent were closed on...
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Notes on Graduation: Stafford, Writing Majors and the Artistic Life
Rx Creative Writing: IdentityWilliam Stafford You take this pill, a new worldsprings out of whatever seamost drowned the old one,arrives like light.Then that bone light belongsinside of things. You...
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The Problem with Light: Reflections on the Life, Death, and Art of Thomas...
Yes, this is my mother's Kinkade print: Victorian Christmas I.About a dozen years ago, I gave my mother a Thomas Kinkade painting that I purchased at my local Christian bookstore. A pricey purchase but...
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Kinkade Part Two: Why Sentimentality Will Never Bring The Kingdom
I listen to Christian radio sometimes. This particular station focuses heavily on family-friendliness, so it references visions of little ones tucked in their beds or plays young, angelic voices...
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Art and Entertainment: A Final Word on Sentimentality with Bonus True Confession
It’s been a heady week for me. Summer is beginning to finds its legs in my little St. Paul suburb, and I picked up a variety of coleus this morning at the farmer’s market (the only colorful plant that...
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An Embodied Gospel: Thoughts on Church and the Arts
The outside of my church resembles a small airport terminal: lots of curved chrome creating an arched awning with large glass windows. The sanctuary has folding seats, burgundy walls all around with...
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In Search of Beauty: More Thoughts on Church and the Arts
My last post talked about the often estranged relationship between the conservative church and the arts—so many heady sermons in bare-bone sanctuaries where the stuff of the imagination, a faculty the...
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Holy Alliances: Wonderings about Art and a Missional Life
[This post is the first in a series called The Arts in the World: A Missional Presence, which will explore the facets of mission and ministry that can be called forth and celebrated within an artistic...
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Ten Reasons Why Great Literature Makes Us Missional People
[This post is the second in a series called The Arts in the World: A Missional Presence, which will explore the facets of mission and ministry that can be called forth and celebrated within an artistic...
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Tracing the Circumference of God: Transcendent Art and Mission
[This post is the third in a series called The Arts in the World: A Missional Presence, which will explore the facets of mission and ministry that can be called forth and celebrated within an artistic...
View ArticleA Word about Music and Transcendence with Bonus Flashmob
[This post is the fourth in a series called The Arts in the World: A Missional Presence, which will explore the facets of mission and ministry that can be called forth and celebrated within an artistic...
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Bullet Crosses and Vocation: At the Art House America Blog
This week I have the great pleasure of having a post featured on the Art House America blog, a site full of lovely words and thoughts by creatives of every stripe. Thanks to Andi Ashworth who...
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The Ritual of Return
A few weekends ago, most of my immediate family converged upon Williams Bay, Wisconsin, for the biennial Hougen family reunion. About eighty-five of us gathered for an extended weekend of catching up...
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The First Church of F. Scott: Arts and Religion
[This post is the fifth in a series called The Arts in the World: A Missional Presence, which will explore the facets of mission and ministry that can be called forth and celebrated within an artistic...
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Of Grit, Goodness, and the Third Way: September Musings
It's been a while since I've posted, and I know some people have been watching for new posts. Between the start of school and some life difficulties, the blog has taken a back seat. Connecting with...
View ArticleRemembering Rain and July
It is October. We wake to dusky mornings, light that arrives late and drains from the sky too soon. A dry, ambiguous chill follows us through our tasks queued up in linear time. As I move deeper into...
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Words for the Last Class: Embracing the Slow Way of Beauty
Last Friday was the final instruction day of the semester, and my Advanced Writer’s Workshop students would be critiquing each others’ work the majority of the time, trying to ready their portfolios....
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Through Thickets of Darkness: Solstice Thoughts
Yesterday was the winter solstice, December 21, the shortest day of the year, the day the dark most deeply reigns. Perhaps it’s fitting that the solstice comes so close to Christmas. These days, I...
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Not by Bread Alone: Christian College Students, Art, and the Church
In my line of work as a creative writing professor at an Evangelical college, I get an up-close look at the handiwork of the conservative church. My English students are wonderful young people,...
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Unguarded Selves: Beauty, Tragedy,and the Artist
Last night, I had the privilege of participating in an event with Art House North in beautiful St. Paul that provided space to explore the artist of faith's response to the reality of tragedy, focusing...
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God, the Artist and the World: My Guest Post
It's been quite a while since I last posted. I'm pleased to say that while I've been absent from blogging, I've been more active with my own writing (my never-ending project of essays about faith and...
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My Road Trip with Brennan: Remembrance and the Wholeness of Story
A few months ago when I learned that Brennan Manning died, I knew I wanted to eventually write about him and his influence upon me. The craziness that attends the end of my teaching year prevented me...
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Remembering the Sacredness of Story
The last few days of June, nine writers gathered with me to delve into spiritual memoir writing at the St. John’s Guesthouse on the grounds of St. John’s University. We all tumbled in with our luggage...
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A Small Look Back: Summer and Liminality
A few weeks back, a post I wrote appeared on the Art House America blog. I love that blog and appreciated being asked again to contribute. I meant to put a link to the post on my blog, but with school...
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After a Long Silence, a Few Words for the Journey
I've been absent from this blog for over two years now. My mother died after a protracted and sometimes wrenching journey with cancer in March of 2014. This event collided with others--leaving a church...
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