Here’s a secret: budgeting doesn’t have to be anxiety-inducing. In fact, it shouldn’t be, at least not according to Jesse Mecham in his new book "You Need A Budget."
Articles published in Books
Reviews of important books—classic and contemporary.
The Danger of Dreaming about the Apocalypse
In the spirit of the book, "How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, Faith, and Politics at the End of the World", let’s unpack the importance of what Charles Taylor calls the “social imaginary” and how our perception of desperate times might validate increasingly desperate measures.
Surviving Secular Apocalypse: A “How-To” Book for the End of the World
Eschatological fascination is not limited to believers wrestling with biblical texts. This, at least, is the argument made by Robert Joustra and Alissa Wilkinson in their remarkable book How to Survive the Apocalypse.
Grief, Doubt, and Hope: Victor Austin’s Losing Susan
In his book, "Losing Susan: Brain Disease, the Priest's Wife, and the God Who Gives and Takes Away," Victor Lee Austin recalls how in the midst of all his suffering, he was able to find joy, in the everyday rituals of caring for his dying wife.
Embodied Worship, Workaday Grace: Tish Harrison Warren’s Liturgy of the Ordinary
Along with that comes the invitation to slow down: to notice daily experiences as they form us, to be mindful of the Spirit’s work in our everyday life. Perhaps above all, we are challenged to learn to see the beauty of small moments.
Futurology with a Materialist
Harari assumes a God-of-the-gaps approach to science and progress generally; he assumes that, because we now know how things like disease, weather, and war arise and function, we can no longer chalk these things up to God’s Will. Though this is a faulty assumption—just because we know about the biochemistry of sickle cell anemia doesn’t mean it cannot be part of God’s plan—it is not an uncommon one, especially in scientific humanism.