There is a muted wistfulness in Springfield, Illinois, that always seems to be hiding just below the surface of this town. Springfield possesses a kind of elegiac beauty, as though the city has learned to …
Growing up in a small Pentecostal church in rural Arkansas provided me with a biblical education that emphasized the more spectacular elements of Scripture. Fire from heaven. Giants falling. Kings rising and collapsing. The Old …
This past Friday, I received the following message from Molly Steenson, CEO & President of the American Swedish Institute, my neighbor and venerable Twin Cities institution, which is ten blocks from the murder site of …
When Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote The Black Swan, he was talking about the type of events that show up uninvited and rearrange the furniture of the world before anyone has a chance to say, “Wait, …
On Monday, April 28, three people knelt in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol to pray. Among them was Rev. Dr. William Barber—pastor, teacher, and tireless advocate for the poor. They weren’t shouting. They weren’t …
A Change in Artistic Style Do you think a change in artistic style could ever warrant a belief that someone is struggling with their mental health? Before you answer, come on a little journey with …
The Birth of a Painting A painting is born with the cast of a vision, a stroke on a substrate, and many considerations that play before the artist’s eyes. A painting may seem like an …
Arthur Conan Doyle was done. In December 1893, he finally disposed of the burden that had dogged him since 1888. Ironically, that perceived burden was also the means of his economic success and growing fame. …