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Some questions begin in Scripture, others begin with a novel, a news story, a movie, or an unexpected conversation. This blog follows curiosity wherever it leads—with intellectual rigor, ethical reflection, and a healthy respect for complexity.
Thoughts While Watching Twelve Monkeys, the TV Series, in 2020, Part III of IX It is not until the third episode of Twelve Monkeys that the audience gets a glimpse of the state of the world outside of Jones’s center of scientific allegiance. Humanity’s remnant has reverted to a tribal pattern, groups of people who…
Thoughts While Watching Twelve Monkeys, the TV Series, in 2020, Part II of IX The first glimpse of the fictional pandemic and its affects come to us from the future. Twenty-five years have passed since the virus had spread, effectively killing seven billion people, nearly 90% of earth’s population. From the year 2043, scientists piece…
Thoughts While Watching Twelve Monkeys, the TV Series, in 2020, Part I of IX As I write this, five weeks have passed since the official requisite for social distancing in my home state. This translates into more than 800 hours with my partner and our two teenage children. This is not the post-apocalyptic event I’ve…
I boarded a plane in Seattle yesterday afternoon and arrived in London early this morning after a 10-hour flight. The first day It is always hard to walk away from the hotel on the first day. With only a few hours sleep and a stolen eight hours of night time, I am so tired! Today,…
Years of traveling has made me a very efficient packer. I use packing cubes to sort my clothing. When I first arrive, I like to have a single outfit ready to change into after a very long flight. Packing cubes makes it easy to grab necessities, even when I have to check my suitcase at…
Traveling from Oregon to Denver, CO for SBLAAR18 conference. I always look forward to gettin away from my daily routine and exploring a new city for a few days. And, of course, the company and subject matter is always intriguing. The conference was held at the Denver Convention Center (being held up any a large…
My final Oxford adventure was to visit a coffee roaster a few blocks south of my AirBnB in East Oxford. It was called “The Missing Bean” and delivered a fine cup of coffee. I enjoyed it quite well. My walk back to pick up my luggage was sidetracked by an incredible old cemetery where the…
Having rushed around the last few days to see the major attractions of the city, I spent Thursday in a more leisurely manner. Here is near Addison’s Walk at Magdalene college. For years I have been struck by the story C. S. Lewis tells in a letter to a friend, since published, about how a…
Famously this library has appeared in a number of films, including Harry Potter (more to come on that). It houses the book that inspired J. R. R. Tolkien’s Red Book of Westmarch about the Lord of the Rings, The Red Book of Hergest. It is also the main study library of Oxford. The old building,…
Museum hopping this afternoon. First to the Ashmolean Museum for some cuneiform and ancient Near Eastern culture, including the Sumerian King list, some Persian tiles, and Assyrian reliefs. The Natural History Museum Where Charles Darwin argued for his Origins work in 1860. Dino’s and the Extinct Dodo Emma’s elephant (who is traveling with me) discovered…