Around the Web:
Why Christian Parents Should Not Want Good, Safe, Happy Kids
David Prince has a challenging article for parents.
- It is not uncommon for Christian parents to begin with good intentions then subtly fall into serving the dream of what they want for their children’s lives rather than what God would want. Rather than loving God by loving their children, they begin loving their vision of what raising successful children will look like.
It’s so easy for me to fall into that sort of thinking. A great challenge. Read more.
Bill Waterson
I’m a Calvin & Hobbes addict. I mean, when people write great articles about where Bill Waterson’s gone to, I read them. I eat it all up. I kind-of can’t wait for the documentary. So when I saw that Bill Waterson agreed to an interview with something called Mental Floss, I knew I’d be reading whatever they’d let me read.
- Personally, I like paper and ink better than glowing pixels, but to each his own. Obviously the role of comics is changing very fast. On the one hand, I don’t think comics have ever been more widely accepted or taken as seriously as they are now. On the other hand, the mass media is disintegrating, and audiences are atomizing. I suspect comics will have less widespread cultural impact and make a lot less money. I’m old enough to find all this unsettling, but the world moves on.
Messy Blessings
Brian Phillips of the Circe Institute reminds us that even when it’s crazy, kids are a blessing.
- Three sounds – a loud shriek, splashing, and the slamming of the toilet lid – brought me quickly from the kitchen to the hall bathroom. Greeted by a smiling, soaking wet toddler walking rapidly from the room, I knew I was in for something special. I was not to be disappointed. Toilet paper had been spun directly from the holder into the toilet and water covered the floor.
The Internet Will Suck All Creative Content Out of the World
Those of us who love art and want to support artists need to be aware of the conversations taking place as artists try to find ways to sustain careers producing art in the face of the maturing internet.
- The larger question is that if free or cheap streaming becomes the way we consume all (recorded) music and indeed a huge percentage of other creative content – TV, movies, games, art, porn – then perhaps we might stop for a moment and consider the effect these services and this technology will have, before “selling off” all our cultural assets the way the big record companies did. If, for instance, the future of the movie business comes to rely on the income from Netflix’s $8-a-month-streaming-service as a way to fund all films and TV production, then things will change very quickly. As with music, that model doesn’t seem sustainable if it becomes the dominant form of consumption.
It’s an important conversation. Fair warning, link is to the Guardian. I’m linking to the print page, since it seems to eliminate the objectionable content sometimes on their site. Read more.
Around the Warren:
Anticipating the Right-Side-Up World Through Imagination
Our week started with a rerun of this great post from S. D. Smith. On the coattails of Hutchmoot, it seemed very appropriate.
- An old man kneels by a fire, telling imaginative tales to eager children. They hang on his every word, transported from their world to another. Their world is beautiful, but broken. He speaks into their hearts words that string together to form new worlds, anticipating the one which will surely come. These are the seeds of the unseen world.
Put the Book Down
Alan Howell wrote another great post, this one about knowing when to read and when to put the book down.
- After a few minutes of reading, I stretched and stood up. A young Mozambican man walked up to me and said, “You Americans sure seem to read a lot. How many books do you think you’ve read in your lifetime… ten?” “Oh,” I said with a smile. “More than that.”
Spot on. Read more.
On Cleaning the Bedroom
Rebecca Reynolds poetry on bedrooms is great.
- Soon the rattle and flurry of the day will settleinto a cool black hush.May this room be a respite waiting.May the weary who land here
find softness opening up to them,
thrown wide like two plump, white arms.
Something to Try with Your Kids:
Candy corn is one of those things that only gets purchased in one specific time-of-year. No one has any need of it in the winter, spring, or summer. But come fall, it’s candy corn time.
Over at GrowingAJeweledRose, they have four different candy corn activities. Check them out.
And Something Fun to Watch
I have a space thing. This is cool. What would it look like if the moon orbited where the International Space Station does?
Thanks for reading! We’re on your side.
- Tumbleweed Thompson Comes Home - October 15, 2024
- Mice that speak and the language of imagination - July 26, 2017
- The Warren & the World Vol 4, Issue 40 - October 8, 2016
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