Saturday Good Reads

This week, the news from Paris remained bad. Following the horrific bombings of last Friday night, the French bombed the ISIS city of Raqqa in Syria and raided an apartment in the Parisian suburb of St. Denis (home of the first Gothic cathedral); ISIS made threats against Washington and New York; the White House announced that its ISIS strategy was unchanged (I suppose that means ISIS is still contained, a statement the President made hours before the Paris bombings); and a global debate erupted over refugees.

My Facebook timeline has looked like a religious war zone. Like most issues these days, the refugee issue instantly polarized opinion (thank you, social media). If you oppose accepting Syrian refugees, you are a Christian apostate and Jesus will dropkick you right out of the church. If you support accepting Syrian refugees, you are knowingly a party to terrorism and don’t be surprised when your own church is attacked.

What’s most interesting to is how Christians’ sentiments align with those of the political parties.

David Rupert has a different take. He’s been telling the stories of Christian refugees from the war zone of the Mideast. What David reminds us is, regardless of our politics or our polarized views, God is in control and is doing some amazing things.

Some good poetry, good advice for writers, and good photography. And in honor of the third (and final) volume of Mark Twain’s annotated autobiography being published by the University of California Press, we have Twain’s 100 Greatest Quotes.

Life and Culture

Kneejerk: The Paris attacks are bad news for Christian refugees and Syrian refugee: “I saw my father killed on YouTube”– David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers

Questions Regarding Waves of Terror and Walking on Water – Shawn Smucker.

A crisis our universities deserve – Ross Douthat at The New York Times.

Three signs a communication conference speaker is selling you something you already have – David Murray at Writing Boots.

Poetry

Poetry in Medicine and Wendell Berry Reads ‘The Peace of Wild Things’ – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

Brett Foster – D. S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

Lift Erth Rise – Robbie Pruitt.

Where to Go When the Voices Are Too Loud – Shawn Smucker.

Photography

Timeline photo and Palm Frond Studies – Tim Good at Arts by Tiwago.

Writing

Why Writers Need a Rut to Run In – Ann Kroeker.

Counterintuitive inspiration technique for writers: gaze at government titles – David Murray at Writing Boots.

5 People Every Writer Needs – Molly Page at Thin Difference.

English is Not Normal - John McWhorter at Aeon.

Faith

Risking Growth After Tragedy – Mick Silva.

When Fear Rules – Diana Trautwein at Just Wondering.

Finding Hope Amidst Tragedy – Matthew J. van Maastricht at thealreadynotyet.

The 100 Greatest Quotes by Mark Twain

Photograph by Lucy Toner via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.