[This series explores the way some of my favourite novels engage with spiritual things. As much as I will try to avoid discussing major plot points, I will be using quotes from the novels and be discussing how they fit generally into the story. So please take this as a spoiler warning.] In this past … Continue reading Wisdom IN Literature: The Color Purple on the Power of Beauty in an Ugly World
[This series explores the way some of my favourite novels engage with spiritual things. As much as I will try to avoid discussing major plot points, I will be using quotes from the novels and be discussing how they fit generally into the story. So please take this as a spoiler warning.] Purple Hibiscus, first … Continue reading Wisdom IN Literature: Purple Hibiscus and a Growth-Oriented Faith
As long-time readers will know, I’m what we call a ‘bookish’ person. That means that not only do I love to read, but also that I love to talk about books, think about the books I read, and better understand why I love the books I love. I think that you can tell a lot … Continue reading Wisdom IN Literature
I recently came across a fascinating discussion about the role of literature in understanding the human condition. James Hillman, a pyschologist who had grown dissatisfied in his old age with the state of the discipline, said: Before there was psychology .. we had novels. All through the nineteenth century Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Balzac wrote … Continue reading Celebrating Black Stories
Much like 2020, I entered January 2021 hoping to read less than the year before. But, once again, circumstances both external (the ongoing pandemic) and internal (adding reading spiritual books to my sacred practices for the year, and audiobooks replacing podcasts as my primary listening material) conspired to have me read more. (In the immortal … Continue reading Top 14 Reads of 2021
Matthew Root 