An Interview with Dan Siedell on Faith and Art

I'm always interested in trying to think these issues through. I think it's a big part of why Story Warren exists. So, this interview with Dan Siedell from Jake Meador is great food for thought.

• Rookmaaker’s and Schaeffer’s worldview focus was intellectual—it was about ideas and thoughts—and art was always just an expression of such things. For both [of them] there was a certain distance—art was kept at arm’s length, as it were. And that was not my experience. 

This is a deep dive on the issue, but worth the time and contemplation. Read more.

The Power of Praising Your Children

Debra Fileta writes at Crosswalk about the power of encouraging your children.

• One of the most powerful parenting tools that I have come across in my experience as a counselor is the power of positive affirmation through words. Children are like sponges, soaking in the messages around them, absorbing those messages into the fiber of their lives. All of these messages, whether intentional or unintentional, have the opportunity of leading our children either closer to understanding their God-given value, or farther away.

A good reminder. Read more.

Inside the Greatest Sci-fi Film Never Made

This is one of those fun, obscure ones. I love the original Dune Trilogy. There's a documentary coming out about an attempt at a Dune movie that featured some ambitious art. 

• In the late 1970s, science fiction and cinema changed forever. Star Wars helped usher in the era of the outer-space blockbuster, while Ridley Scott’s Alien crystallized a sinister vision with some of the most horrific creature design ever seen. But as the new documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune argues, neither may have become the classics we know today were it not for another epic film — one that nobody has ever seen.

  Alejandro Jodorowsky is the avant-garde filmmaker behind cult classics like El Topo and The Holy Mountain, and in 1975 he began work on a surrealistic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. 

It's interesting to see how the art concepts in this never-made movie impacted the development of Sci-fi movies in the 70s and 80s. Read more.

 

Big Words Are Fading

Elizabeth Bernstein talks about the disappearance of big words from the modern vernacular. Should we be sad? I'm not sure. But, I love me some long words.

• I love big words. It started when I was a kid and first heard "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." ("Something to say when you don't know what to say," according to the movie "Mary Poppins.")

  I quickly moved on to real words: "Ebullient," "innocuous" and "malodorous" were some of my favorites. If I came across a word I didn't know in a book, I looked it up.

Read more.

 

Around the Warren:

Waiting for Spring

James Witmer talks about winter, spring, and imagination.

• Winter has been long this year, biting deep across much of North America. Where crocuses and snowdrops were bursting and glowing in previous years, now the stubborn mud refuses to give way. It’s affecting everyone at my house – I see us straining to catch a patch of blue sky, a sprout of green in the garden, the smell of spring in a breeze. We haven’t caught much.

And then it snowed 4 inches at my house. Coincidence? WITMER! Read more.

Things of Beauty to the Praise of God

Paul Boekell brings us a beautifully illustrated quote from Francis Schaeffer. Gorgeous.
 

'God's Great Plan' for One Story Warren Reader

Alyssa Ramsey introduces a great book from Melissa Cutrera.

• One thing I admire about many of my friends who are parents is their knack for creating with and for their children. They can take everyday challenges – picky eaters, messy rooms, monsters under the bed – and turn them into songs or stories that not only help solve the problem, but that also become beloved family traditions.
  That brand of creativity does not come easily to me, so I’m always amazed when I see it in my friends. And also a little irritated. I mean, quit hogging all the talent, you know?
  I’m excited to introduce you to one such irritating friend of mine today.

Looks like a good read. Go read the rest of Alyssa's introductory review. Read more.

The Sword of Damocles

S.D. Smith introduces an old tale of envy and virtue.

• There was once a king whose name was Dionysius. He was so unjust and cruel that he won for himself the name of tyrant. He knew that almost everybody hated him, and so he was always in dread lest some one should take his life.

  But he was very rich, and he lived in a fine palace where there were many beautiful and costly things, and he was waited upon by a host of servants who were always ready to do his bidding.

This is a great one to read to your kids! Go read it.

Something to Do with Your Kids:

Over at Hedua.com, they have some recommendations for raising a writer. I found this after my son declared his writerly attentions at dinner. I'll make sure he knows how to enjoy mac and cheese, too. Read more. 

 

And Something Fun to Play

This one is a little off the beaten path. This is a web app designed to try to simulate synesthesia. The folks at the verge have a great write-up, and the app is embedded in the page. It's fascinatingly fun. So, go play:

Thank you for reading. We're on your side.