Stirling Bridge

Coloring

2009-09-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

The Ashmont train is always latethose days I amblotted out by the crowd.Exchanging r's for l's clutchingipods, cell phones, showing freshly stainedyellow fingernails.The grey-green walls absorb me:transparent.I rode the 23 here nakedan outline on the slippery seat.The travelers lookedand looked awaythrough colored windowsat neighbors clothedas alwaysin ebony finery.And then:her lips painted, so

Summer Updates...

2009-05-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a while since we posted. It's summer time here, and we're all probably even crazier than during the school year.Keep emailing us though, (gc.wallis@gmail.com) and we'll keep posting.Have a wonderful Summer!

Memorial 5.2.09

2009-05-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

The air smelled of stale cigarettesas the priest began.Painter’s pants, clerical collar,cheap sandals, eyebrow ring,and I half expected him to be tonsuredwhen he took off his Abercrombie hat for theLord’s prayer.Our Father…Next to him was the addictidentified solely by his habit of Molestation.And yet, he tooprayed.Forgive us our trespasses...The pigeons provided the

Message form the Prague

2009-04-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

I am Angelica Morse, a junior psychology major at Gordon College. I am abroad in Prague, Czech Republic this semester studying Czech and social issues involving communism, dissent, and inequality. In a way, my traveling here has been a pilgrimage to the country of my heritage where my mother’s family still lives. For 3 months now I have been living in a country whose national anthem begins with

Fixing Things

2009-04-23T18:07:00.001-07:00

I was squatting down, doing my business in the bathroom and I just realized why there is water in the toilet -- It’s not only because it flushes out the feces out, but also it takes the smell away from whatever you digested. Problem solved. Yet, in one incident, Americans thought it’d be best that they would replace the latrines (something that they were completely

Incarnation

2009-04-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

It’s impossible in today’s world (even if it’s not as noticeable at Gordon College) to avoid interacting with people of other cultures—people who have grown up in a different environment, have a different set of values, and view the world in a vastly different way. Randy Kluver says in his essay, Globalization, Informatization, and Intercultural Communication, “In a

Kierkegaard and the Three Stages of Love

2009-04-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Prelude: Two Caveats 1) The following is by no means an academic endeavor. I would call it a meditation, or perhaps a philosophical fragment. It is not the result of extensive study; This idea came to me while I was walking to the bathroom on the first floor of Jenks from the reference room. 2) The relationship between my three stages and that of Kierkegaard’s is

Two by Two

2009-03-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

Pacing beside the fields of this somewhere else; to walk with weights tied about my hips as a horse or some other animal of burden. Why was I not an oxen- birthed to be fat and happy, dumbly discouraged from an education; calmed by an electric wire, buzzed into simulation. Why was I not a bird- fitted with air-filled bones, heavy with feathers, puffed with

Tirades from the Theatre

2009-03-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

In the small but self important realm of Christian colleges there is a definite hierarchy to the majors. Those who chose to study the sacred, Biblical studies and theology majors, consider themselves at the top of the heap with business and science slightly beneath them. After them come the humanities. Philosophy gets the most respect because no one wants to argue with a

Nietzsche and Moral Psychology

2009-03-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

Moral Psychology is the study of the psychological conditions and preconditions that enable us to act as moral beings. Throughout history, most thinkers have been occupied with defining right and wrong, good and evil. Moral psychology inquires into the part of the human psyche that allows for these concepts to even exist. Thus, instead of asking, “What is right and wrong?” a

Passion vs. Practicality

2009-03-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

Passion… Rolls smoothly off the tongue With the whoosh of a three-hundred horsepower engine With the unrestrained exhilaration of the battle cry With the luscious sweetness of the lovers’ kiss With the invincible tide of the orator’s words With the slice of the wind turbine through crystal-clear air Leaping, Swirling, Lifting one’s mind To loftier clouds and

Our Intercessor

2009-03-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Time is hidden in their wrinkles. Vivid scarves, shoulder icons, red and gold - worn thin. They are the Bogomater herselfvigilant mournerssuspended at the edge of an end,year after year - insistent.Holy water trickles from their eyesbaptizing the childrenlead innocently into this sacred place.- Rebecca Horner

Perspectives on Pluralism, Universal Salvation and the Love of God

2009-02-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

Universalism is the belief that after death everyone will have salvation no matter what their religion, denomination, actions, or beliefs. It is unorthodox in mainstream Christian churches because scripture seems to contain explicit passages about hell for those who have not “accepted Christ as their

The Wife

2009-02-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Resolutely she dropped her clod of earth onto the coffin lid. A life ended, not finished. Cut short before the work could be completed. Now, she the Wife must carry on, despite the stifling heat of day. Gone is the sense of awe at the sight of wealth and gold like a fools paradise she watches as it fades away. Down he sinks like a stone cast into the sea soon

Dan Russ on Cizik and Chivian

2009-02-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of “critical loyalty,” I offer the following reflections on the convocation presentations of Richard Cizik and Eric Chivian. I emphasize loyalty because I affirm their passion to address the very real problem of environmental degradation including global warming, and I am grateful for their willingness to forge a friendship and, hopefully, cooperation for

THE GRAND OLD PARTY

2009-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

THE GRAND OLD PARTY is in a grand old mess. With the defeat of John McCain in November, the Republican Party has been thrown into a tumultuous identity crisis. The Republican Party is faced with a choice: stay mired in uncertainty about their role in society or unify under some rallying banner to once again challenge the solidarity of the Democrats. That rallying banner will

D’Souza and Christian Apologetics (?)

2009-02-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

Denish D’Souza v Christopher Hitchens hosted by Kings College, Manhattanhttp://www.isi.org/lectures/flvplayer/lectureplayer.aspx?file=v000187_cicero_102207.flv(a response to the debate by Kirk Vanacore)Hitchens is a prominent, if not the most prominent, face of atheism. And it seems that D’Souza is attempting to be Hitchens’ antithetical persona: the face of Christian apologetics. His latest book

Despair?

2009-01-19T06:25:00.000-08:00

(a reflection by Charles Anderas on his experience abroad in Uganda)I know it is a common problem of Americans to feel overwhelmed by news: war, AIDS, poverty, disease. As sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, we view these as issues to be solved, progress to be made. If you look at the world this way, you will die. Spiritually, emotionally, socially, you will die. I can relate to this on many

This (in part) I believe

2009-01-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

View (or listen to) the link, then read Dr. Borgman's brief response below:http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=57258&topessays=1"Breaking bread together," says Jim Haynes. My favorite times are just such times of breaking of bread, whether inside or outside of church. Jim Haynes is what I'd call a true old-fashioned liberal: liberality of spirit, expansive and inclusive in his view