My grandmother introduced me to Luke Skywalker when I was nine years old. We lived in Snyder, Texas, a sun-blistered West Texas town that served as my very own Tatooine. I’ve told the story a hundred times, and I’ll happily tell it a hundred more even to the people who’ve heard it before—The story of…
In Thinking of America
Parasitic fear has latched itself to the heart of the United States of America. There was once an idea, or at least the dream of an idea, that American’s could trust one another if for only the sole reason that all of us share a liberated homeland. This mostly unspoken virtue runs through the consciousness…
The Civil War: A Narrative – Fort Sumner to Perryville, By Shelby Foote
Prologue: The Opponents, Part I
On Adam, Eve, and Anaphora
The first telling of the story of Adam and Eve is one of the more expertly crafted stories in the history of literature. It follows a circular pattern of narrative, for the first chapter alone is a collection of statements presented as irrefutable fact. All of these statements begin with a repetitive structure, a technique…
Cain and Abel – The First Brothers
Imagine the time of the birth of the first second son. Eve out of the painful throws of childbearing is sleeping quietly in her recovery. Adam, wiping the condensation of worry from his brow, calls to his son, “Cain! Cain, come quickly.” Peeking out from behind the folds of a dusty, wool covered flap, we…
On Binary Sunsets
I’m not really a “crier”, but I turn into a blubbering baby when I watch the original Star Wars films. There are only a few films that can do this to me: Lonesome Dove, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring are probably the only other two. In a previous post entitled The Incorruptible…
Nativity
See the Child. He is born unto us, the breaker of all chains. For within this tiny vessel resides usurping power of the wholly divine. His first earthly cries stretch out in echoes that usher away darkness, pain, and invite all living creation to partake in a new genesis. A fresh baptism for all the…
A Multitude of Infirmties, Part IV: The Aimless Journey
My pastor Steve Wells has been going through the story of Joseph in Genesis, his series of sermons revolve around the idea of, “God’s dream for your life,” and how that can often times put you in conflict with yourself, your family, and the world around you. Last week Steve preached on how Joseph suffered…
A Captain Indomitable: On the Importance of Heroes
This past Sunday I taught a bible study lesson for a wonderful group of people via South Main Baptist Church. The title of the lesson was, Comic Books: An American Mythology. It started out exactly like you’d expect – “Hi, My name is Seth, I write comic books and here is how they have affected…
The Incorruptible Son
In the first act of Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker takes nineteen steps toward the desolate horizon emblazoned by a binary sunset. The audience, ushered forward by John Williams’ score, sees a longing in Luke that the more elderly viewer knows is afforded to only the very young. As time passes in our…