by Kristine Langley Mahler 2016 was filled with surprises that have challenged my resilience—an experience to which I’m sure many others can relate. As I reflect on the books I read last year, I’m startled to realize how much I connected with the messages of my top four recommendations: I was riveted by my ancestral past while … Continue reading Awareness First, Action Next: My Top Four Books of 2016
by Michael Wright In a discussion on kairos and chronos time in A Secular Age, Charles Taylor invents the phrase “kairotic knot,” an image for graced moments that gather our daily lives into deep significance and mystery—an experience of the presence of God. The arts can facilitate this kind of gathering, each form offering … Continue reading Remembered Sounds: Coming to Life
by Kate Reed In the most selfless act of love I have ever committed, I told my husband that once a year on Halloween, I would watch a horror film with him— his pick. On year one of this new agreement, he chose The Conjuring. Have you seen The Conjuring? In case you haven’t, I’ll … Continue reading Imagine Yourself Better: Lessons of The Fall
by Andy Zell I forget how I won the gift certificate to the local Christian bookstore. Perhaps it was good grades or perfect attendance in 8th grade at my private Christian school. What I do remember is looking over the wall displays of cassette tapes filled with Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and selecting Michael W. … Continue reading Remembered Sounds: Go West Young Man
by Karissa Knox Sorrell A couple of months ago, I went to a funeral. It was for a woman named Joyce whose husband had been my pastor at one time. When I greeted him at the front of the church, I unexpectedly burst into tears, and he took me in his arms and cried with … Continue reading Death and Blossoms
by Ann Marie Bausch Once upon a time, I was lucky enough to be invited on a free trip to Paris. I encountered the usual teasing beforehand—“Say you're Canadian”—and after I came home—“Was everyone really rude?” I always responded that I encountered no more rudeness in a week in France than I did in a … Continue reading Forgiving Our Small Towns
by Kenneth L. Field If someday they take the radio station away from us, if they close down our newspaper, if they silence us, if they kill all the priests and the bishop too, and you are left alone, a people without priests, each one of you must be God’s microphone, each one of you … Continue reading The Example of Romero
by Karissa Knox Sorrell When I write, I turn my back to the saints. We moved into a new home in August. With our home came the blessing of an extra bedroom in the basement, which became a guest room/office combination. When searching for a space for our Orthodox icons and home altar, my husband … Continue reading Witnesses
by Andy Zell As I write this, we are expecting our fourth child in a matter of days. A few days before the birth of our third child, my wife asked me if I had looked into home births. She had come across a website called Idiot’s Guide to Emergency Home Births and thought … Continue reading Expectations
Marlena Bontas's poetry appears in Rock & Sling 10.2. Of "I Slaughtered Your Horses," she writes: "I believe there is a deep connection between faith and literature. The most obvious one is the Bible, as there is a great narrative built around the time before and after Christ. The Book of Revelation is closely related to … Continue reading From 10.2: I Slaughtered Your Horses by Marlena Bontas
Rock & Sling 