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Essays

The Wide, Wild World of Sex

In the dramatic opening scene of Disney’s Finding Nemo, parents Coral and Marlin anxiously wait for their offspring to hatch. Their mood is light and hopeful, but the music signals an ominous shift. As a barracuda approaches the reef, Coral rushes to protect their eggs. Marlin is knocked unconscious as he tries to protect Coral. When he wakes, Coral is gone, and Marlin finds a single egg remaining from their large clutch. The egg hatches, and Marlin names his only…
August 31, 2017
Poetry

“Where Is God?”

my daughter asks. And I tell her to point anywhere she wants. She points at a dead worm on the sidewalk. “Yes,” I say. “God’s in the worm?” “No,” I say. I take her finger, hug it. “In the pointer.” Ron Riekki’s books include U.P.: a novel; The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works; Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017 (Michigan State University Press, 2017). Photo: Detail from…
August 31, 2017
As We See It

Wrestling with Gender Identity in the Christian Community

The mutability of gender and identity causes consternation for many Americans. Christians in the United States have also wrestled with understanding correct gender roles. For historians, perceptions of gender as a key formation of identity is not a new issue. Often, the act of encountering a new people group revealed the socially constructed ideas of gender. Early European accounts of natives in what is now the United States demonstrated many of the ideals of gender held by upper class white…
August 31, 2017
Poetry

In the Living Room, Listening to Gregorian Chant

One sustained Alleluia kisses the psalmodic couch, the sanctified family photos, and the unstained glass window where I see a monk- neighbor in medieval bathrobe find that he has no mail, reaching into the emptiness and coming out with his blessed hand. Ron Riekki’s books include U.P.: a novel; The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works; Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017 (Michigan State University Press, 2017). Photo:…
August 31, 2017
Reviews

Man versus Man, Woman versus Woman: Mixed Martial Arts and Gender Identity

Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts BEAST: BLOOD, STRUGGLE, AND DREAMS AT THE HEART OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS DOUG MERLINO BLOOMSBURY, 2015 $26 272 PAGES THE PROFESSOR IN THE CAGE: WHY MEN FIGHT AND WHY WE LIKE TO WATCH JONATHAN GOTTSCHALL PENGUIN BOOKS, 2015 $26.95 304 PAGES During my graduate-school years, two massive forces collided in my life. First, the Ultimate Fighting Championship took a gamble on a television show called “The Ultimate Fighter”…
August 31, 2017
Essays

What if This Had Been Me? A Gendered Analysis of the Funniest Video Ever

Confession time: I have a guilty pleasure. Some very smart, very sophisticated people I know watch reality TV. The ridiculously staged, morally questionable, emotionally manipulative kind of reality TV. I don’t. But I’ve always had a soft spot for America’s Funniest Home Videos – I’ll laugh shamelessly at other people’s misadventures, bloopers and pratfalls. With Netflix, I rarely watch any television any more, and I can’t remember the last time I watched AFV. But thanks to social media, I still…
August 31, 2017
Uncategorized

Reimagining the Christian School Sacrifice

“We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” – Psalm 78:4. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All…
June 30, 2017
Reviews

Probing America’s Premiere Youth Ministry

Making Jesus Attractive: The Ministry and Message of Young Life MAKING JESUS ATTRACTIVE: THE MINISTRY AND MESSAGE OF YOUNG LIFE GRETCHEN SCHOON TANIS PICKWICK PUBLICATIONS, 2016 178 PAGES $23 A friend who is a senior ministry leader with Young Life tells the story of the reaction he received at a high school reunion from a former classmate after they swapped details of what they were up to now. “You work for Young Life?” the classmate asked. “Hey, I liked marching…
June 30, 2017
Poetry

A Nice Bit of Work

If I sit on the porch and look out on the morning, It is the dust I first see on the window panes, Smudged here and there where my hand has brushed it And speckled where condensation has dried. I could stop here and think about cleaning, About making the moment better next time. Or I might grasp the obvious metaphor And scrub away at my own grimy soul, But I would rather watch the tiny bug Crawling up the…
June 30, 2017