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Poetry

Whaling

The whale I lost in a book of water I look for with a pair of binoculars. I trawl for whale; I leave it verses. There is a great weight at the end of my line. It is a school. The mouths are difficult to make out, but they are open. I think about this for a good while. I end up on another page in another volume. Search engines comb the net with virtual tridents. It occurs to me…
April 29, 2017
Poetry

Letter to Audubon from St. Francis

As you read these words, I lie lynx-like. I lie lynx-like in prairie sage, in a phase of abstinence. The yelp I trust is periodic; I have it from the mouth of an honest woodcock. A wild idea, or so it seems, to let go of venery. For all my lithe, I am not averse to buds, the spice bush; the tongue, per se, by which I forage is a nuisance. It melts. Becomes earmarked. In its stead, I self-devour.…
April 29, 2017
Essays

The Truth-Seeking Impulse in Higher Education

When I wrote my most recent statement on how faith informs my work in language and literature, I chose this prompt from Calvin College’s faculty handbook: “Write an essay for the broader Christian community explaining what is at stake in the Christian engagement with your discipline ... Incorporate examples from your own teaching and research.” In my Written Rhetoric class, I’ve recently begun teaching an essay titled “The Braindead Megaphone” from a book of the same name by commentator and…
April 29, 2017
Essays

Give Us a King

When Israel asked for a king, the prophet Samuel warned them that the pomp and power of kingship would come at a high cost. A king would conscript their sons and daughters into his service, would take the best of their harvest and would make them his slaves. “And in that day,” Samuel predicted, “you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day” (1 Sam.…
April 29, 2017
Essays

Reshaping the Picture of Science

Americans of a certain age can think back to the days of their childhood and recall how “Cold War science” was built into their political system and social imagination. The consolidation of technology and power during those days stirred dark fears about the dehumanizing effects of industrialized militaries and computerized decision-making. Now, several decades later, we have become accustomed to such threats, just as we have grown comfortable with the default image of science that produced them. But this image…
April 29, 2017
As We See It

Good Days for Minds and Hearts

When I was in graduate school, one of my professors had the habit of referring to that present time (the mid to late 70s) as “these late, bad times,” and many of us took up the chorus, seasoning our conversations with references to “these late, bad times.” We thought his assessment to be hyperbolic – he was old, and we were young, still preparing ourselves for the opportunities of work, career, vocation. Now that I am gradually approaching old age…
James Vanden Bosch
April 29, 2017
As We See It

The Speed of Love

Lately I’ve noticed that even the way I waste time is less refreshing than it was before the internet and social media. I used to find myself staring out the window or doodling on paper. I still do these kinds of things, but much more often my allotment of bad time use is spent hitting a link from a relevant news story and finding myself, 20 minutes later, taking a quiz to find out which member of the Village People…
April 29, 2017
Reviews

Wading through Modern Ennui

The Oxford Book of American Short Stories THE OXFORD BOOK OF AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, SECOND EDITION JOYCE CAROL OATES, EDITOR OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2013 $21.95 808 PAGES A review of a book of short stories should tell the reader some of the stories. Let’s start with Charles Chesnutt’s “The Sheriff’s Children,” which was originally published in 1889. In it, a biracial man, referred to in the story as “the mulatto,” is jailed for a crime he did not commit. The…
April 12, 2017
As We See It

‘Reformed’: It’s a Flavor of Jazz

Being theologically Reformed is tremendously important to me. I’m a convert, and it’s always the converts that you have to watch! Those of us who come to the Reformed tradition from elsewhere are often the ones who are most passionate about it, and who want to say, “Wow! You have a real gift here! Treasure it!” When I first became a Christian, I had no idea the Reformed tradition existed. When I discovered it, I realized I had come home…
February 28, 2017