Featured Articles
Brooding Upon the Waters
The God of Grampa’s living room was dour—though, to be fair, the light that poured in through the picture window—that illuminated the whole scene—had a name, “grace.” You just didn’t know exactly what to do with that grace. It never quite translated into unrestrained joy for Grampa, and certainly never into any kind of bacchanal: at Grampa’s birthday, when we gave him a bottle of Mogen David or King Solomon wine, he closed the curtains before he partook. Then, in a surprising move, he poured everyone a small glass, even us kids.
Featured Articles
“Candide” and the Car Wash
I suppose many attitudes surround people’s work. I can truly say that I enjoyed almost all the jobs I had. Even “humping” freight on the night shift at the truck yard to pay my way through college. Some days, if the freight were heavy, I drove, odoriferous and gulping coffee, straight from the dock to classes at Calvin College on Franklin Street. If I had a few extra minutes I would stop at Fatboy’s Fish Fry on Division and would eat the fish with my fingers on the way to school. With a few exceptions the classrooms were lively enough to keep me wide awake.
Meeting Big Brother at the ICE Office
Not long ago, I was part of a group from our church that accompanied Javier to the local office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
A Father’s Library, a Professor’s Virtue, and Sanctification
I was raised with a freedom to ask questions about my faith. I didn’t have the sort of fundamentalist baggage that I now discover many
The Difference Between a Time and a Season
While I grieved for the broken relationship between church and pastor, I was also excited about this opportunity for myself. After the initial three weeks
This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen
I remember vividly the day my death-denying illusions were shattered—it happened when I was a senior in high school. A friend had driven home from
Wonder and World-Mending: The Relevance of Denise Levertov to Our Present Darkness
“O Taste and See” was written two decades before Levertov would explicitly identify as a Christian, yet she already intuited that focusing on this world
Learning How to Lament From Jesus
Still, when I compare Old and New Testament lamenting, I can’t shake the sense that the coming of Jesus changed the role of lament for
Latest from the Blog
Daily blog by our regular bloggers & guest contributors.
Telling Lies in Brooklyn
I went inside and told the officer behind the window that I was lost. That was the first lie.
A Flicker of Light
It’s in the darkness that Christ’s ambassadors should shine the brightest. And yet, similar to our church’s Christ candle when we forget to fill it
Cold and Clear
Our earliest understanding is a phenology. Days and seasons, stars and tides. Winter birds and warblers passing through. Green vestments becoming blue becoming white.
What I Learned from My High School Newspaper
I spent a surprising amount of time in the principal’s office my senior year of high school.
Surprising Tales
You never do know how many monkey stories somebody has. It’s what I like about what we have going here at Reformed Journal: we’re a
Living in the Tension
When we learn about bones, we talk about the importance of tension or stress for bone health. Your bones remodel constantly in response to stress.
Love Trickles Down Like Honey from God
Last summer, I was asked to lead morning devotions at a gathering of RJ writers. Three biblical passages quickly came to mind.
Wicked–for Good?
Perhaps the urge to create one’s own storyline has been there from the beginning. When God asks Adam and Eve why they are hiding, they
Reviews
Reconciliation Ecology: Reconsidering Restoration
The problem with restoration ecology is that, although populated with dedicated researchers and practitioners, it struggles to make its case in the broader North American
Growing Up In the Crevice
It felt like a betrayal of Christianity to have an “inkling that there could be more than one pathway to the Infinite.”
The Task of Forgiveness and Redemption
Confession is for humans. It’s a human practice to help us deal with
the shame. Confession’s not for God’s sake.
You Really Can
Ayers draws upon a vast knowledge of other great Christian thinkers; on art and music and literature, and what I can only imagine are a
Standing Closer to Suffering: A review of Everything is Tuberculosis
A tuberculosis outbreak began in the Kansas City, KS area in January of last year (2024). The outbreak is ongoing, with seventy confirmed active cases
Communion is Everything
I have been waiting for this book for more than twenty years. You see, when I first read Mark Gornik’s 2002 book To Live in
Joyful Companions for These Dark Times
by Angela Carpenter John Hendrix’s The Mythmakers defies simple explanation. On one level, it is the true story of a friendship and a testament to
The Life of a….Prodigal Sheep?
I vividly remember my first “women supporting women” moment. My friends and I were sitting in the back of the school bus in the Spring
Poetry
Dwell
In the future we will live in pods of reclaimed wood and very white bed-linens …
Passing the Peace
On good weeks it happens twice. Once on Sunday morning, sunlit sanctuary …
Bearing Witness
ICE arrested someone on my block. Walking my dog, I saw the witness first …
Be opened
to the absence of your own voice filling your inner silence …
A Famine of Words
It says right there in Amos chapter eight: “The time is surely coming,” syas the Lord …
After Denise Levertov’s Essays
My mind stops, one foot in the air …
Podcasts
“Dwell” by Hannah Notess
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Hannah Faith Notess about her poem “Dwell.” Hannah is a poet
“Be Opened” by Deb Baker
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Deb Baker about her poem “Be Opened.” Deb lives in New
“A Famine of Words” by Steven Peterson
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviewed Steven Peterson about his poem “A Famine of Words.” Steven is
“After Denise Levertov’s Essays” by Caroline J. Simon
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Caroline J. Simon, PhD, about her poem “After Denise Levertov’s Essays.”
“On Absolution” by Lila Tindall
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Lila Robinett Tindall about her poem “On Absolution.” Lila is
“Grafting Apple Shoots” by Betsy Howard
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Betsy Howard about her poem “Grafting Apple Shoots.” Betsy serves