The Threshold of Joy – Eric H Janzen
The Threshold of Joy
It was night, but they dared not sleep In the starlit darkness, they watched The wind caught the sound of their sheep Resting as though the world were at peace
These soul-weary shepherds all wondered Would the blind ever see once more? Would the deaf ear ever open? Would a broken body ever leap with joy? Would the mute ever sing a song?
We wait like shepherds for heralds Watching for bright angels in the dark Whose voices our despair destroy We stand in the threshold of joy
—eric h Janzen
In Matthew 11, John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the One. John is part of a long tradition of prophets who have carried the burden of waiting for the Messiah’s arrival. It has been so long, and so agonizing, that while hopeful, Jesus is the One, he can’t allow himself the joy of fully believing it lest his heart be broken. Jesus, a fellow prophet, does not answer straightforwardly, such as: “Yep, tell him I am indeed the One.” That’s not the way prophets talk to each other.Instead, Jesus gives John a far more profound confirmation: he sends the message that he is the long-awaited One because he is fulfilling prophecy. read more…
When Empires Rage and the Church Sleeps: An Afrikaner’s Perspective on the Palestine Israel Conflict – by David J. Kleinhans
Photo by John Robinson.Young Afrikaners wave the then South African flag, some armed with guns, make the yearly pilgrimage to the Voortrekker Monument on signal hill overlooking the city of Pretoria. The Christian Nationalist government of the apartheid South Africa...
T.S. Eliot and Four Quartets: The Wisdom Way – Ron Dart
T.S. Eliot and Four Quartets: The Wisdom Way I Introduction Eliot and the Fragmented West Old men ought to be explorers Here and there does not matter We must be still and still moving Into another intensity For a further union, a deeper communion...
Paul Zizka’s The Canadian Rockies Rediscovered – Review by Ron Dart
Paul Zizka’s The Canadian Rockies Rediscovered – Review by Ron Dart There are “A”, “B” and “C” level novels that hold the reader for different reasons, but it is the classical “A” books we return to many times in our all too human journey. There can be no doubt that...
Paul Zizka’s The Canadian Rockies Rediscovered – Review by Ron Dart
Paul Zizka’s The Canadian Rockies Rediscovered – Review by Ron Dart There are “A”, “B” and “C” level novels that hold the reader for different reasons, but it is the classical “A” books we return to many times in our all too human journey. There can be no doubt that...
Traumatic Tradition isn’t ‘too Christian’ but not Christian Enough – Christian Hollums
What if the parts of you that doubted, questioned, or even walked away weren’t signs of spiritual failure—but signs of something deeper trying to survive? This piece is born from the intersection of theology and therapy, of David Bentley Hart’s Tradition and...
It’s Hard to Watch the Birds – poem by Jonathan Tysick
It’s Hard to Watch the Birds By: Jonathan Tysick It’s hard to watch the birds with the people all around Chronically poor, colourfully rich, comfortably middle class Scraping, scrounging, trusting in this bloated, aching town Suits strut under skyscrapers casting...
At a soft pine table (Isaiah 6) – Poem by Tara Boothby
At a soft pine table. (Isaiah 6) I sit. Mother is busy, At the stove, At the kitchen sink, Wiping bowls, Cleaning vegetables, Stirring, Creating, Smiling. Her presence moves around this space and Touches me As it touches everyone else....
The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) – Luke Brunskill
The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) Luke Brunskill As I read the Prodigal Son parable, I can’t turn my heart away from a message of humanity’s journey from God the Father into our depravity and perversion right into the grave (Sheol). This journey doesn’t stop there; it...
From Nouns to Names – Chris E.W. Green
Unlike a set of abstract nouns that we define and systematize, names carry the weight of story and promise. “Justification by faith,” at least as many of us have taken it, is a closed set, nouns fixed in relation—a system requiring constant maintenance. “In Christ,” is an open-ended and unfinished construction—an invitation to discover our fit in relation to each other and God in Jesus. Paul is a man with a history, a history with God. And his entire life was consumed with what it means to know that all things are for Christ and from him. The letters we’ve received from him aren’t repositories of doctrine but living testimonies to a new way of being human, where truth is known through participation in a symphony of relationships.
Radix Magazine with Ron Dart: The Timeless Hermann Hesse
In this interview with Matthew Steem, Ron grandly explicates the following points: Hermann Hesse's impact on counterculture (including misreads) Hesse's connections with other intellectuals (including Martin Buber) The Glass Bead Game Hesse's exploration...