I’m convinced most of the great debates, which we first passionately take part in and then gradually learn to appreciate as expressions of different aspects of reality, are simply that – expressions of the complex nature of the cosmos. They also evidence our various ways of perception so that we can believe the Calvinist andContinue reading “Psyche, Spirit, Body”
Category Archives: Essays and Articles
Tradition (2.)
This post is part 2 in a 7 part series of relflections as I turn 25 years old. I’m convinced that to be human is to struggle and to struggle with God. This series serves to honor the difficult questions. I don’t know if everyone has questions their mind continually turns over while they walk theContinue reading “Tradition (2.)”
In the Dirt With the Angel: 7 Reflections on turning 25.
In Genesis 32, Jacob has just left his uncle Laban’s house where tensions were very high. He heads out and goes to meet his brother, Esau, who may very well kill him and take everything he owns. After sending gifts as well as all his family, servants, and possessions to meet Esau across the river,Continue reading “In the Dirt With the Angel: 7 Reflections on turning 25.”
After the Jester: 5 Ideas for Women & Men in Church
In February, I published a comic strip. It was a sattire project – this strip is what I imagine a conversation around gender roles might look like if the ideas we hold internally spoke to each other openly. In this piece I would like to look for answers to two questions: 1. Why write aContinue reading “After the Jester: 5 Ideas for Women & Men in Church”
My New Comic Strip – FUNDAMENTALS
The scoop: every day in the month of February, I’m publishing a comic strip I’ve drawn! I’ve never been much of an artist. I once decided to make a sketch everyday to improve my drawing skills – I think I made about three. However, I have made 28 drawings for this new project! I reflectContinue reading “My New Comic Strip – FUNDAMENTALS”
Tell Yourself a Story
One of my goals is to become a counselor. That said, therapy, mental health, and counseling ideas are something I think and read about a good deal. This week, I came up with an idea for a way of helping myself understand my own life, and I wonder if it might be helpful for someoneContinue reading “Tell Yourself a Story”
Gender Roles in Church: Some Reflections
My wife, Aleisha, and I live in Phoenix, AZ and have just started attending a church a few blocks from our house. We’re beginning the work of making friends, getting connected, finding a place. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on the tradition and church I was raised in. Many of my dearestContinue reading “Gender Roles in Church: Some Reflections”
To Be (Vaccinated) or Not To Be
Preface A few weeks ago I sat down with my friend to eat some Vietnamese food, and over my lemongrass dish I explained about a piece I’d starting writing – this piece about getting vaccinated. And my friend wasn’t convinced it was a good idea – you should at least put it behind a paywallContinue reading “To Be (Vaccinated) or Not To Be”
What’s the Weekend For?
This is a revised version my capstone paper for the communication studies program at TFC. The full paper can be found here. Workin’ Nine to Five The workweek is often viewed as a prerequisite to the weekend. This is to say the workweek is a necessary, but somewhat contemptible, element of surviving 21st century AmericanContinue reading “What’s the Weekend For?”
Three (Local Pastors Told Me Their Hopes for 2021)
There are two phrases that keep coming back to me. “It is what it is.” & “It’s not what it could be.” The new year is a new slate, symbolically anyways. The spike and then steep dive in gym memberships around this time of year tells us flipping the page on the calendar doesn’t intrinsicallyContinue reading “Three (Local Pastors Told Me Their Hopes for 2021)”
javen.bear. 