Saturday Good Reads

It’s the political season, and even Supreme Court justices (as in Ruth Bader Ginsburg) can show how “ill advised” their words can be. This election cycle is bringing considerable angst and considerable anxiety; what some thought of as a protest vote (the Libertarian Party) is turning out to be a vote for a candidate who favors legalized prostitution and has promised to give up smoking marijuana if he wins the White House.

I wish I was making this up.

If there is any positive news in all of this, it’s that many people, and many Christians, are doing some serious soul searching. The American church is actually in better shape than we lead ourselves to believe, says Ed Stetzer at Evangelical Missions Quarterly. But it is different than what we’ve known. Trevin Wax is urging a “go local” option, and we’re going to be hearing more and more about what has come to be known as the “Benedict Option.” Some of the wisest words I’ve read this week come from U.S. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

But there’s good poetry, good photography, and a wonderful time-lapse movie of Europe.

Poetry

The family farm – Christopher Schrock at Curator Magazine.

If I Had a Harp – John Blase at The Beautiful Due.

Anxiety – Loren Paulsson at World Narratives.

New Missouri Poet Laureate – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

A Summer Ode – Tim Good at Pics, Poems, and Ponderings.

Life and Culture

How to Save the Post-Industrial Town? – Gracy Olmstead at American Conservative.

The State of the American Church – When Numbers Point to a New Reality – Ed Stetzer at Evangelical Missions Quarterly.

Christians Who Feel Marginalized Should Go Local – Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition.

The Left Wants to Ban Old People from Voting – Josh Gelernter at National Review.

Two Kinds of Voting, Two Kinds of Disruption, and Two Kinds of Unrighteousness – Ben Sasse at You Tell Me.

Cop Land, Teacher Nation – Rod Dreher at American Conservative.

Faith

God Isn’t Looking to Burn You Out – Jason Stasyszen at Connecting to Impact.

Art and Photography

Armour Revisited for the Final Time (September 2014) – Chris Naffziger at St. Louis Patina.

Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer Paintings to Be Reunited at Neue Galerie – Art Net News.

Garden Visitors – Tim Good at Pics, Poems, and Ponderings.

Writing

The #1 Most Powerful Story Tool: Convey Fear – Mick Silva.

Patience – A Two-Minute Time-Lapse Movie of Europe – Paul Richardson

Painting: Compartment C Car – oil on canvas by Edward Hopper (1938).