I’m a huge ancient history nerd. (I may not quite fit the ‘think about the Roman Empire every day’ meme from a couple years ago, but if you add in Persia, Egypt, Assyria, or Greece, I’m absolutely guilty as charged!) For this reason, I can never get enough of ruins, and Roman ruins are absolutely … Continue reading Borderlands
A number of years ago now, I looked at the personality characteristics, shared across human cultures and spiritual traditions, which positive psychologists have identified as critical to human mental health and wellbeing. Of these, one that has always stuck out to me is one they variably labeled ‘awe’ or ‘appreciation of beauty and excellence’ — … Continue reading In the Footsteps of the Ancients
I’m not a huge fan of the theology of Martin Luther, but one thing he absolutely got right was in calling attention to two different postures off faith: what he called the ‘theology of glory’ and the ‘theology of the cross.’ The theology of glory revels in titles for God like “King” and “Lord”, and … Continue reading The God of the Low Places: A Reflection on Luke 14.1,7-14
A recurring topic of conversation with my traveling companion for this trip over the years has been what gives places that special feeling that, if it’s positive, we call ‘holy’ and, if it’s negative, we call ‘haunted’. It’s a feeling of otherness and strangeness in a place or person that is in more formal discourse … Continue reading Encountering the Holy
One of the things that always strikes me about travel is how you both need to plan ahead and fully expect those plans to go awry. The start of my trip was a great example of this. When I was planning the trip, I knew I was meeting the friend with whom I was traveling … Continue reading From A to B to C to D (or Best Laid Plans)
Matthew Root 