"In Smith’s diagnosis, one of the ways we neglect God is by refusing his humblest gifts. We might meditate on the readings at church, do a little devotional reading at home, and keep tabs on blog posts online, but we run the risk of 'approach[ing] discipleship as primarily a didactic endeavor—as if becoming a disciple… Read More
What They Didn’t Tell Me In Sex Ed
"I was intending to read the book [Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility] as an instruction manual, but I kept recognizing myself in the stories of the women who she worked with. At least twice, I dog-eared a page not because it would be relevant to charting for my married life, but because Weschler… Read More
Hamilton, Temptation, and Grace
"The grace of forgiveness is larger than the horror of losing a child or the betrayal of adultery. It’s so large as to be unimaginable until (and even after) the moment that it is offered. Perhaps one reason that Hamilton couldn’t imitate St. Therese and flee temptation is that he had no idea what he… Read More
Beyoncé And The Fertility Of Forgiveness
Beyoncé doesn’t take second swings at her targets, she seems to have no particular animus for anything she smashes. In fact, when she knocks the top off of a fire hydrant, children rush forward to play in the spray; a perfect realization of 'My wounds are fertile!' from Leslie Jamison’s 'Grand Unified Theory of Female… Read More
Give Us This Day Our Daily Hedgehog
"After Aslan is resurrected [in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe], he travels to the witch’s castle and frees the animals she had turned to stone. A lion he rescues is so overwhelmed by this grace that he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. The most pleased of the lot was the… Read More
Modern Weddings Have Lost Interest In The Marriage Bed
"[The Knot Book of Wedding Lists] recommends planning (and planning to attend) a second party after the reception winds down, telling spouses-to-be: “An after-party is more than just an extension of your wedding day—it’s a great way to show off more of your wedding style with surprising details and personal touches.” [...] It can’t be… Read More
Engagement, A Bibliography
On Easter Sunday, my boyfriend proposed to me at Belvedere Castle in Central Park. And I feel the best way to invite you all into my joy is to share the bibliography of our courtship — the favorite books we asked each other to read, the books we read for the first time together, the… Read More
Screwtape in Vegas: Addiction & Acedia
"Slots, video poker, and other gambling machines are often described as games, but Schüll’s description [in Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas] makes it clear how completely play is lacking from these terminals. Some machines allow gamblers to “autoplay”: they simply insert their money, press a single button, and let the machine spin… Read More
Adjusting to the Pass/No-Fail of Lent
"In truth, I wasn’t attracted to Fr. Schmemann’s prescriptions because I thought they stood a good chance of opening my whole day to Christ; I liked them because they were a little extreme and a lot emphatic. They felt like they might be enough. Trying to make sure I’ve done my duty by God is,… Read More
The Little Way of Terry Pratchett
"Reading [Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax] as an atheist, it was the first time I’d seen a definition of sin that didn’t sound like, as Francis Spufford describes our modern use of the word in Unapologetic, a kind of “enjoyable naughtiness” that seemed mostly to do with sex or very expensive chocolates. But the kind of sin… Read More