Tell the children

After Psalms 78:1-8 

It’s not sufficient

to study and learn,

meditating and living.

Tell the children.

 

It’s not enough 

to tithe and give

of time and treasure.

Tell the children.

 

You must do more

than teach and preach

and serve and enourage.

Tell the children.

 

You must not only

store up the word

in your heart and mind.

Tell the children.

 

Photograph by Note Thanun via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Saint Clare – sonnet by Malcolm Guite.

 

How we imagine the life of a pastor – Bill Grandi at Living in the Shadow.

 

Kyrie – poem by David Gascoyne at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

I do not know this year – poem by Esther Roth at From the Wildwoods.

 

“Lochinvar,” poem by Sir Walter Scott – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

"The Vanishing Spy": A Three-in-One Thriller by Alma Katsu

Yuri Kozlov is a man with a two-part mission. First, he must convince the CIA that he is legitimately abandoning Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his longstanding work with the Russian spy service and seeking asylum in the United States. Second, he must transmit everything he learns back to Russia, creating a colossal embarrassment for the United States. 

There’s a third aspect as well – extricate himself. 

 

In the slippery, constantly changing world of international espionage, Yuri knows he’s reaching the end of his useful life. His minders back in Russia may not be terribly saddened if he’s caught, or if he fails, or if he dies. Some might prefer it. But he’s enough of a theoretical prize for the CIA that the mission might just work.

 

Alma Katsu

Yuri’s story is told in a three-part series of short stories by Alma Katsu under the general title of The Vanishing Man, which also serves as the title for the first story.  The Vanishing Man introduces us to Yuri , his mission, and his CIA handlers. On Enemy Ground explains what happens when Yuri is taken to a safe house in rural Virginia. Shaken, Not Stirred explains what happens when everything begins to go wrong, and not only for Yuri.

 

Together, the three stories might form a novella. They’re certainly not standalone. And for someone like me, who isn’t generally a fan of spy thrillers, it was difficult not to read the three stories straight through. Katsu is an engaging writer who knows the espionage business.

 

Katsu worked in intelligence for more than 30 years, a work experience reflected in what is clearly a deep understanding of how spies and intelligence operations work. She’s published novels and stories reflecting that experience, including Red Widow and Red London. She’s also published historical novels with supernatural and horror elements. A bestselling author, she’s received several genre literary awards. She’s also a reviewer for Washington Post Book World. She lives in West Virginia.

 

The Vanishing Man is a relatively short, fast read. And a terrific one.

Some Wednesday Readings

Booknotes: Massacre at St. Louis – Civil War Books and Authors. 

Poet Laura: Chicken Dreams – Michelle Rinaldi Ortega at Tweetspeak Poetry. 

 

Beads and Buttons – poem by Renee Emerson at Story Warren. 

 

The ship that broke Wordsworth’s heart: UK government grants protection to wreck with connections to poet – Maev Kennedy at The Art Newspaper.

 

A Fan – Seth Lewis.

 

Live Like the Weasleys – Gracie Olmstead at Granola. 

 

A Mouldering Feast: The Dangers of Victimhood as Identity – Rebecca Brewster Stevenson at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

Traveling Through Civil War New York – Evan Portman at Emerging Civil War.

 

Winter Bed – poem by D.C.C. Randell at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Protect Good Reading from Bad Schooling – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

One Rule for Frat Boys. Another for Violent Activists – Francesca Block at The Free Press.

 

Rosebery Topping, a Dark Teesside short story by Glenn McGoldrick, is free on Amazon today and tomorrow. I reviewed it here.

Painting: William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

Poets and Poems: Spencer K.M. Brown and "Cicada Rex"

I discovered a poet because I read his novel first. 

Some had recommended Hold Fast, the second novel by Spencer K.M. Brown. It’s the story of a father and his adult son, how they deal with grief, and how the adapt to the loss of their individual dreams. It’s a beautiful story, set on the stark, cold shore of Lake Superior.

 

I learned that Brown had published a previous novel, “Move Over Mountain” (2022), and a poetry chapbook (2024), “Cicada Rex.” Given this was year of the cicada, at least around my neighborhood, I had to read the poetry collection.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Pitching Failures – Terry Whalin at The Writing Life.

 

Britain’s Foxes are Beset by Wolves – N.S. Lyons at The Upheaval. 

 

At the museum – artwork by Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,” poem by John Keats – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Sticky - Dave Malone’s new workshop: “Writing & Crafting Excellent Poems” – Megan Willome at Poetry for Life. 

“C.S. Lewis’s Oxford” by Simon Horobin

The university city of Oxford will likely forever be linked with two authors – C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. It was where they studied as undergraduates, made their academic careers, lived most of their lives, and wrote their most famous works. Lewis would spend his final academic years teaching at Cambridge University, but he commuted back to Oxford on weekends. Oxford holds a special connection to both authors, and a special connection for their fans, admirers, and readers. 

Simon Horobin, a professor of English Language and Literature and a Fellow and Tutor in English at Magdalen College, Oxford, has drawn a fine portrait of Oxford and what it meant in the life of Lewis in, appropriately enough entitled, C.S. Lewis’s Oxford, published, also appropriately enough, by Bodleian Library Publishing. If you’re a fan of Lewis and hi writings, or even a fan of Tolkien, this book is a treasure of information, insight, and illlustrations.

 

Horobin describes the buildings and institutions associated with Lewis in Oxford and what they were like at the time Lewis knew them. He studied and received his degree at University College. He taught for decades at Magdalen College. He lived and attended church in suburban Headington, where fans still make pilgrimages to see his home The Kilns and Holy Trinity Church, where he worshipped and is buried in the cemetery. The Eagle and Child pub is forever associated with Lewis, Tolkien, and the other members of the Inklings as the place where works in progress like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were first read aloud. 

 

Simon Horobin

The Eastgate Hotel on High Street near Merton College was where Lewis and Tolkien often ate and drank together, and where Lewis first met Joy Davidman in person. For many years, Lewis was president of Somerville College for women, organizing lectures and programs. St. Mary’s Passage, which runs alongside the University Church of St. Mary’s and Brasenose College, has a credible claim for inspiring the streetlamp scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Horobin includes chapters on Cambridge, which is almost an “Oxford without Lewis,” discussion, and on “Global Lews,” about the collections of Lewis manuscripts, papers, and atrifacts in such places as the Marion Wade Center at Wheaton College in suburban Chicago and the C.S. Lewis Foundation in Redlands, California. 

 

And accompanying the text are 31 color plates and numerous photographs and maps.

 

Horobin, a grsduate of the Universty of Sheffield, has written numerous books and articles on such subjects as Chaucer and his language, early English, spelling, the importance of philology for Tolkien and Lewis, medieval literature, scribes and guilds, Piers Plowman, and many other related topics. He’s also served as the honorary secretary for the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature.

 

If you’re a fan or Lewis, or even only of Oxford, this book is a delight.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

“Your Friend, Wendell”: A 90^th Birthday Tribute to Wendell Berry – Library of America. 

 

Late Victorian London in Photos – A London Inheritance. 

 

‘Blasphemers on Pogo Sticks’ and the Art of Making People Laugh – Douglas Murray at The Free Press.

 

8 Books You Didn’t Know Were Originally Self-Published – Ellen Gutoskey at Mental Floss.

What he heard

After Colossians 3:1-14 

What he heard

startled his mind,

startled his heart,

the words like

commands,

to put away,

to put to death,

to destroy

the old clothes,

all of them,

so comfortable,

so known,

so much a part

of his life, and

put on new clothes,

the ones so dearly

bought, the ones

that seemed weak

and alien, the ones

so unfamiliar.

It’s a new wardrobe,

a new wardrobe

for a new heart.

 

Photograph by Nimble Made via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

How Christians Can Fight the War on Lies – Joe Carter at The Gospel Coalition.

 

How Do You Value Your Worth? – Mark McIntyre at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

 

What Protestants Can Learn from Catholics – Carl Trueman at First Things Magazine.

 

Rain Can’t Reach Us (Remix) – Travis Thrasher at The Journey is Everything.

 

The Changing Fortunes of Codex Vaticanus – An-Ting Yi at Text & Canon Institute.

Saturday Good Reads - Aug. 10, 2024

One-time presidential aspirant, military veteran, and Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard thought she and her husband were taking a trip to Rome. And they did, and they returned. But along the way they discovered that she had been placed on a terrorist watch list (“Open Skies”) by the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration, so extra security measures were applied. The TSA did respond, and apparently, without saying so, admitted it was true. Matt Taibbi at Racket News suggests it’s perhaps time to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security. 

We’ve been to London (as tourists) seven times. I’m not sure about our trip in 1983, but for all the other trips, there was at least one protest if not more going on. Sometimes it was PETA protesting at London Fashion Week or Stop Oil protestors blocking traffic at Trafalgar Square. In 2012, we were warned to avoid Parliament Square and Grosvenor Square (old U.S. Embassy) after President Obama made some incorrect comments about Benghazi (our hotel concierge explained that Americans were being targeted at protests). Last year, we were in the thick of it for three days, when the prime minister of Bangladesh stayed at our hotel (the same one who fled her country earlier this week), and both her proponents and opponents squared off (when they weren’t marching down Whitehall).  

 

But nothing we’ve seen or experienced comes close to what’s been happening in Britain lately, including and well beyond London. Here are just a few stories.

 

How Britain ignored its ethnic conflict – Aris Roussinos at UnHerd.

 

Fears for tiers – Ben Sixsmith at The Critic Magazine.

 

The British Establishment Refused to Talk About Migration. Now We’re Paying the Price – Nadhim Zahawi at The Free Press.

 

The Hollow Kingdom – Christopher Rufo. 

 

The riots and the social media blame game – Fred Skulthorp at The Critic Magazine.

 

Summer of Violence: Why the UK Has Been Overwhelmed by Anti-Muslim Violence – Clemente Lisi at Religion Unplugged. 

 

More Good Reads

 

Writing and Literature

 

Hardness in Hard Times – Adam Roberts at Adam’s Notebook.

 

Can fiction be successful on Substack? – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader.

 

Beowulf’s Scandinavia of the Mind – Matthew Lyons at Engelsberg Ideas.

 

Accursed Questions: Why Russian Lit Matters – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

Protecting Authors’ Privacy: The Cost of Marketing Our Own Books – Rea Frey at Writer’s Digest.

 

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Vision of the Just War – Jay Wesley Richards at The Imaginative Conservative. 

 

News Media

 

The Media Thought Misleaders – Mike Pesca at Pesca Profundities.

 

American Stuff

 

Untenable Risk – Part 1: The Secret Service and the Protection of the President – The Memory Hole. 

 

Faith

 

Christians Are Temporarily Strange People – Michael Kelley at Forward Progress.

 

Should You Send Your Kids to Catholic School? – Chris Castaldo at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Independent Power – Seth Lewis.

 

One church, two astronauts: How a Texas congregation is supporting its members on the space station – Holly Meyer at Associated Press.

 

Poetry

 

“War is Kind,” poem by Stephen Crane – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern. 

 

“In Three Days,” poem by Robert Browning – Adam Roberts at Adam’s Notebook.

 

The Faltering – Ed Ahern at Society of Classical Poets.

 

“Over the Way,” poem by Mary Mapes Dodge – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Life and Culture

 

Early Music and the Conservation of Culture – Michael De Sapio at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

How Did Planned Parenthood Become One of the Country’s Largest Suppliers of Testosterone? – Jennifer Block at The Free Press.

 

Israel

 

Washington’s Wavering Support for Israel – Michael Oren at Clarity.

 

Art

 

Recent Drawings from the Diary of a Tree Standing on Its Head – Jack Baumgartner at The School for the Transfer of Energy.

 

The Red Rises, The Tide Falls – Ted Jacobs and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Painting: A Young Woman Reading, oil on canvas (1880) by Marie Bashkirtseff (1858-1884).