Dear friends,
This has been a busy month for me and my family, as I am sure it has been for many families. School is in full swing for the kiddos, the ministry calendar is chock-full, and a cold that’s been stalking our family has finally gotten the better of me.
Still, amidst the swirl of activity I had an encouraging insight this past month. It came to me after a busy weekend at Mockingbird, Tyler. The event was a blast! All of the speakers were wonderful, it was great meeting so many cool folks, and we got to eat Stanley’s BBQ, which is always a good time.
One of the highlights of the weekend for me was getting to work shoulder-to-shoulder with many of the great people here at Christ Church, Tyler. I was reminded of how lucky I am to be a pastor, to get to learn and serve with these people week-in-and-week-out.
I try to keep an active writing and research program, a lot of which I share here. Often this is encouraging, kind of a creative outlet for me. Sometimes its frustrating when things don’t take off the way I hope they would, though, and I think about how to get the right articles in the right publications, and so on.
On the other hand, I don’t get to see many of the people who read what I write. And when I spoke at Mockingbird, I realized I didn’t know many of the people I was speaking with. I realize that all of the publications in the world aren’t going to connect me with the people.
What is so special about pastoral ministry is that I get to know people, to visit them in their homes and hospitals, to work with them, and to spend time together with our families. Pastoral ministry is not always easy, and it can be hard on one’s family. But Amy and I have been so thankful that most of our experiences have been good ones, and this especially true with the community at Christ Church, my colleagues and the many wonderful folks in our parish community.
Writing
I am working on a book proposal that I am hoping to have wrapped up by the end of the year. I sent an initial to a publisher in a bit of rush, and they requested to see more, so I am chipping away at this.
I also have an academic article that’s back under review after making some revisions the reviewers requested. Sometimes these things don’t work out and then you have to submit the article to another journal, but at this point I am hopeful it will be well-received.
I’ve got a few short articles and reviews that I am working out or are under review.
I gave a breakout talk at Mockingbird that you can listen to here or here. The talk is titled “Narcissism and the Shape of Grace: Hot Dogs, Line-Cutters, and the Doctrine of Reserve” and is about… you guessed it: Narcissism and grace.
The idea for the talk came as I was wondering about why it seems that some people are resistant to the transformational effects of grace. This is my essay to figure that out.
Here is the video I referenced in my talk:I wrote a short article on my glasses for our parish newsletter, The Crucifer.
And you can see my most recent sermons here, including this Sunday’s:
Reading
I saw Patric Gagne’s Sociopath in the new books list on Libby, the app I use to stream audiobooks from the local library. The title intrigued me. It’s Gagne’s memoir of living with what she terms “sociopathy” but which is usually diagnosed as “antisocial personality disorder.”
It was interesting at first, but I kind stopped trusting her as a narrator. Some poking around on the internet I found out that her qualifications and reliability are dubious. Still, it wasn’t a terrible read.I started Neil Oliver’s History of Scotland before our trip this summer, but it kind slid to the backburner until I finished up some other things I was reading. I was able to finish it this past month. It was an interesting history (and pre-history!) of Scotland until pretty close to the present.
For a history book, it was pretty lively reading, but I still got bogged down with some of the details especially in the early modern period. I’m glad I finished it though, and now I have a bit more of a picture of Scottish history.I also read Norman Sykes’ classic The English Religion Tradition which offers a quite brief series of essays (I think they were originally talks) on what the title says. It was a fun and helpful refresher for me. I’ve spent so much time reading about the nineteenth century that I welcome books like these that help give me a bit of broader view.
I read Mike Mignola’s Hell Boy vol. 2 with a group of guys from Christ Church. I try to keep a comic in the rotation each month. This one kind of had a Batman-y Year One feel, with a weird cast of characters from Nazis to Rasputin. I’m glad I dipped into Hell Boy, but I don’t think it’s a series I want to continue.
I read Ray Bradbury’s Death is a Lonely Business, a bizarre, dark mystery novel set in Venice, LA. The novel follows the protagonist, a poor sci-author eking out a living while trying to figure out a slew of deaths that have taken place in his run-down ‘hood. He gets in touch with Elmo Crumley, a local detective until they figure out the kind-of-culprit. It was a fun read.
I’ve long followed the Mockingbird blog and have even contributed a couple of times. But I haven’t really spent a lot of time with my nose in the print magazine. I picked up a couple of issues at the conference and loved it. I especially enjoyed The Age Issue (pictured below) and read it pretty much cover to cover.
Listening
I know, I know, I’ve mentioned Bon Iver before. Vernon’s music has meant a lot to me over the years, though I find his first two albums (and the Blood Bank EP) to be the most satisfying.
The “beep-boop” of his newer stuff is good and fun, but it has resonated less with me.
That’s why I can’t not gush over his new single “S P E Y S I D E”, and soon-to-be new EP SABLE. I think I’ve easily listened to this song over a hundred times. The second verse really hits me :
It serves to suffer, make a hole in my foot
And I hope you look
As I fill my book
What a waste of wood
Nothing's really happened like I thought it would
The video is also phenomenal.
Check it out:
Watching
Man, I know many people haven’t had nice things to say about Rings of Power, but I liked the first season, and this second season was even better. Those last two episodes were cinematic in quality, and I love that some of the threads linking the series to the The Lord of the Rings are starting to come together. To me, this feels very much in the spirit of Tolkien. Amy and I looked forward to watching it each Friday night.
Tasting
I love October. I love the tastes of October. Despite having a cold, and unseasonably warm first week of the month, I am trying to lean into this.
What do I mean?
I am a sucker for the pumpkin spicing of everything, but also, I love the darker flavors that come to the fore this time of year, as weather cools and we are craving things richer, warming, deeper:
Butternut squash soup, a good aged cheddar, and toasted sourdough for instance.
Or, the smokey, savory notes in tobacco blends that feature latakia or dark fired Kentucky.
Or, the darker roasts of coffee, with notes of burnt sugar and roastiness.
Or again, malt-forward brown ales (with or without spice), stouts, dubbels, etc.
I was treated to a pack of four darker brews recently by Fr. Kevin Wittmayer, a priest and colleague here in the diocese. Not only did Fr. Kevin give me this beer (which is wonderful in itself!) but he brewed this beer. He is the “brewmaster pastor”. It was all delicious, but I especially loved the spicy and fruity Belgian Dubbel. All the beers have fun names, including “Stumbling Monk” which you can see below.
I’m looking forward to sampling more fall flavor the rest of this month and next.
Well that’s about all I have to share this month.
By the way, I’ve been writing this Substack newsletter for over a year now. While I’ve not quite as timely as I would have liked, I’ve been faithful to (on average) get a post out every month or so.
And you, you’ve been faithful to read them. Or at least open them! So thank you, dear reader, for opening these posts, for reading and for sharing them.
In Christ,
Cole+
I really enjoy your posts