Hey All,
I had hoped to do a more extensive piece on some things I have been thinking on lately, but having a paper due on Wednesday coupled with holiday activities curbed that notion for now.
I will tell you WHAT I have been thinking about lately, and I hope to write some things on both these subjects in the future. I have been reading a book on “evangelism” during my devotional times of late and it has caused me to think more on that subject…a subject that is quite “taboo” in our culture. So I have been formulating a “defense” of sorts, on evangelism. I don’t want to give a defense strictly from the Bible because even a cursory reading of the Bible does a good job of defending itself in that. I want to focus in on the humanity of persuasion….or evangelism…or proselytizing. We hate those words, but I would argue that they are closely united to what it means to be human – perhaps that is why they are hated so much. Frankly we “evangelize” every where, all the time…we just don’t admit it.
The other area I have been thinking about is related to the series of talks I have been listening to done by Malcolm Guite on the Inklings…CS Lewis, JRR Tokien (the more well known), Charles Williams, and – the one I’ve heard the least about but am now excited to read more of – Owen Barfield. The question Guite argues they wrestled with most was the relationship between reason and imagination. This has spurred me to think about beauty and imagination, about reason and beauty, and about art and imagination. I have posted a couple of his talks on our Facebook page (click here to access and “like” our FB page), and plan to post them all quite frankly. I’ve listened to three and have not been disappointed at all – in fact I just finished the talk on Owen Barfield today and I am on the verge of adopting him as a new literary hero (Click here for the site with the Malcolm Guite talks on the Inklings).
Finally, I thought I’d let you know of our travel schedule over the holidays. We plan to be in the Maryland area for Christmas, New Years, and on into January. We would love to connect with you all to say hello and catch up, so please send us a “Hey you!” I will be speaking at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Newark, Delaware on Friday, January 13th on the subject of Beauty. More details will be posted here and on our Facebook page. If you are in the area come on by. There are a couple of other possible dates I will be speaking but won’t post them until they get solidified. At the end of January (27th-29th) I will be participating in a weekend event called a “Forum on Beauty: Three days of Exploration”. I will be doing some speaking, but most exciting of all we will be interviewing and interacting with artists about their works and exploring the depths of all things beautiful. It will be in Rock Hill, South Carolina more details to come (click here for some details).
Happy advent, friends…unto us is born!
Kirk & Sarah
Bird and Key