The Mockingbird

Theology The Capon Corner #3, The Parable of the Sower Josh Schatzle / 10.6.26 Welcome back to The Capon Corner, where we are diving into the deep dish that is the writings of Robert Farrar Capon. We’ve begun our feast with what is, arguably, his most ambitious and satisfying of offerings, Kingdom, Grace, Judgment — Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus; his three-volume book on the parables of Jesus which, I promise you, does not disappoint.

Theology Seeing the God Who Sees Us Timothy Jones / 10.2.26 / 1 Where in all the varied movements of creation is there any work of God which is not wonderful? … Indeed, how many common things are trodden underfoot which, if examined carefully, awaken our astonishment. –Augustine (Letters 137.10) My daughter Bekah has a quirky and remarkable gift. Ever since she was a child, she’s had a knack for looking at a stand of clover and immediately — instantly — finding a four-leafed cluster.

Theology We must never content ourselves with how things are, for God is a God of the impossible. Ian Olson / 10.1.26 On the night of August 31st, I was helping my second oldest son with homework when my wife suddenly announced that Wendell Berry had died. I didn’t cry out when she relayed this; I didn’t begin weeping. But a heaviness gripped my heart that one who had so influenced me was now gone.

ChurchDeath Changes in the Bereavement Industry Robert Myallis / 9.30.26 “You will enjoy doing funerals and find officiating at weddings exhausting!” These counter-intuitive words of our seminary professors did have a certain logic: weddings often resemble expensive pagan ceremonies, where families hire you to somehow adorn bridezillas and drunken groomsmen with a Christian sheen.

BibleLiterature Salvation and Flannery O’Connor’s “Revelation” Will Ryan / 9.29.26 In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Revelation,” the main character, Mrs. Turpin, has fully given in to the temptation which plagues us all, though she wouldn’t see it that way.

FilmTheology We may forget God. But God answers: I have not forgotten you. Matthew L. Rubinstein / 9.28.26 Like many, I saw and enjoyed the recent film adaptation of The Odyssey. Like many others, I have made a heroic resolve to read Homer’s epic itself. And though not normally one to dwell on book-to-film incongruities — nor one of those insufferable sorts who must always insist the book is better than the movie — one discrepancy gives pause: Book 5 and Odysseus’ experience on the island of Ogygia.

Bible Hopelessly Devoted: John 8 Mary Zahl / 9.25.26 Here’s the next installment of our Hopelessly Devoted series, which highlights today’s entry in our 365-day devotional, Daily Grace — now available in a smaller (4″ x 6″) travel edition! Grab it in our store or on Amazon. And both of our devotions are also available for free on our fancy new Mbird phone app (iOS and Android).

Featured / LiteraturePoetryTheology T. S. Eliot’s vulnerability, regret, and longing for redemption Amy Mantravadi / 9.24.26 Thomas Stearns Eliot was one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, and he knew it. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but did not let that inconvenient fact stop him. For while the boy the world would come to know as T. S. Eliot was not born an Englishman, he was born to be an Englishman.

EverydayFeatured Learning My Vows John Pennylegion / 9.23.26 Not long ago, I was thinking about marriage vows. Two events were overlapping: I was going to be presiding over a wedding, and a day after that ceremony, my wife and I would be celebrating our 23rd anniversary. I couldn’t help but think about those vows. I love the traditional vows. I’ve never heard wedding vows that have improved upon them.

BibleFeaturedTheology (They Aren’t the Same Thing) Dave Nienhuis / 9.22.26 / 1 I’ve come to feel rather ambivalent about the way people often draw a sharp distinction between the words “shallow” and “deep.” The safe shallows aren’t always “shallow” in the conventional sense of being superficial, and the mysterious depths aren’t always places rich with opportunity for growth and transformation.