BOOK BLOG | ‘The Other Six Deadly Sins’ & ‘Christian Morality’ (Sayers - Letter 7)
“Now, I do not suggest that the Church does wrong to pay attention to the regulation of bodily appetites…What I do suggest is that by overemphasizing this side of morality, to the comparative neglect of others, she has not only betrayed her mission but, incidentally, also defeated her own aim even about morality.” The next two essays in Sayers’ Letters to a Diminished Church will be treated here together. The more extensive and detailed Deadly Sins essay articulates essential
BOOK BLOG | Strong Meat (Sayers - Letter 6)
“For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” – The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews 5:13-14 In this short, but clever essay (the seventh in her Letters to a Diminished Church series) Sayers seeks to further amplify the rigor of the Creeds. The Hebrews passage above also lea
I've Always Wanted to Have a Neighbor Just Like You
A Reflection on Willa Cather's Neighbor Rosicky Mr. Rogers is etched in my psyche. When he asked me, “please won't you be my neighbor?” I answered, “Yes.” Anyone who has ever sat glued to the television as Fred Rogers spoke to the camera about Neighbor Aber, or listened as he narrated how peanut butter is made, or watched with rapt attention as he plucked the strings of some old beat-up instrument, knows that you quickly forget about the fact that you have never actually met
BOOK BLOG | Creed or Chaos? (Sayers - Letter 5)
“It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. […] It is hopeless to offer Christianity as a vaguely idealistic aspiration of a simple and consoling kind; it is, on the contrary, a hard, tough, exacting, and complex doctrine, steeped in a drastic and uncompromising realism.” The leader quote gives a pretty clear sense of the direction of thi
“May Flowers” (or “Blerkins Buys a Record Player”)
This week we introduce a new thread here at Blerkins: a critical, if random, exploration of music from the mid-20th century as found on obscure vinyl LP’s. But first, a few words about what has motivated this additional line of inquiry. Preface: As an early teen, I spent a considerable amount of my free time in my grandparent’s basement listening to LP’s (which were already old by then) on their Curtis-Mathis console record player. I realize this may call into question my “c
Great Men of Action & the Contour of History
“It follows from this that the main story of our history has to do with the deeds of men of action. But here at the very outset an important question may be raised: do the deeds of men of action then, after all, constitute the great events of history? An affirmative answer may be given with much confidence.” “Great men of history carve out the contour of history. High culture can only rise from the soil fertilized by material prosperity. The swords of Leonidas, Themistocles,
