So thrilled to be part of the Festival of Faith and Writing this year!
I'll be talking about catacomb art, mosaics, sacred architecture, and paintings of the crucifixion. If you're in Grand Rapids, come say hello!
The world is divided on so many issues, but we can all agree that the APA style guide is the absolute WORST, right?
My book on Ordinary Time is now available! www.ivpress.com/ordinary-tim...
Prayer, according to Herbert:
"God's breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage"
What I get to read and discuss with my fellow John Wesley Honors College faculty this semester!
Does this cfp from Minerva McGonagall mean I've finally been recognized for my magical skills and invited to Hogwarts?
Last year, I read over thirty Agatha Christie books and Dorothy Sayers' entire Peter Whimsey series.
I now feel very well-prepared to solve any murders that may come my way in 2026.
For those of you who have been waiting to buy my book until you could pair it with Snoop Dogg's cookbook, boy does Amazon have a deal for you.
Anyone have audiobook recommendations for my upcoming Christmas road trip?
Fiction preferred, but I can be persuaded by compelling nonfiction, too.
My colleague @loganhoffman9.bsky.social helped me level up my Christmas star game from 2-D to 3-D.
If you want to learn about the virtues from a virtuous person.
My basement swallowed up the bottom half of my Christmas tree and spit out this terrifying doll.
Seriously. I've never seen this thing in my life. How did it get into a box in my home?
When we first got married, we didn't have a star for our tree. So my husband improvised.
Now it's a tradition.
Apparently it is possible to lose the bottom half of your Christmas tree..
I wrote about Harry Clarke's resplendent stained glass #MotherofSorrows window.
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Why is this window unusual? Mary is sitting ON TOP of the cross with Jesus. What seems like a scandalous decision actually has a lot of theological rationale.
www.dappledthings.org/deep-down-th...
To train their attention and awaken a sense of wonder, I invite students to draw three flowers.
They might not always be artistically perfect, but they almost always make me smile.
My dad once dressed up as the Easter bunny to hand out Halloween candy.
Kids were very confused.
Loreto, in Prague. One of those things they rediscovered several centuries after forgetting it was there.
Musicians Matthew Clark & Ordinary Time are performing in MD! Also: new books by Grace Hamman (on medieval virtues) & Ben Palpant (interviews w/ 17 poets); @lantadavis.bsky.social on a bone-decorated crypt in Rome; & a song by Mark Shiiba inspired by said crypt. artandtheology.org/2025/10/28/r...
The chapel you visited is stunning. I had no idea there were more than two such things in the world until I wrote that article and realized they were actually quite common.
I also visited a crypt this past summer with hauntingly beautiful frescoes you might enjoy.
I weirdly love bone chapels. This one is crazy beautiful.
This mandala is made completely from sand. Tibetan Buddhist monks painstakingly created it over several weeks.
Since part of the point of mandalas is their transience, it's rare to see one. Monks usually brush up the sand, put it in a jar, and disperse it.
Just finished my weekend reading of Athanasius's Life of Antony and Jerome's Life of Paul the Hermit.
There were demons, centaurs, satyrs, a raven that delivers daily bread, and lions that help dig a grave.
Exactly the kind of wild, weird ride I love.
At that special age where you try to decide if you want to buy--and then live in--the pirate ship you find on Facebook marketplace.
My colleagues at the JWHC are brilliant, delightful people, and some of the best teachers I've ever known.
Those qualities come out in their writing, too.
Summer moves at the same speed as a Tuesday afternoon in January.
My dad, who is over 65 and 200+ pounds, can still backflip off the low dive.
The first time we met my baby bro.
So why am I making that face?
My angelic-looking brother is stepping on my foot.
3 years ago, I learned to drive my dad's semi truck, which was so big and hard to drive, he nicknamed it the Beast.
I wrote my book in the mornings, then hauled grain in the afternoons.
My dad now has a proper hired man, who transformed the Beast into a Beauty.
