Beauty
‘The Gift of the Magi’ and the Power of Exchange
By Joseph Sunde
Amid the array of quaint and compelling Christmas tales, O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” continues to endure as a uniquely captivating portrait of the power of sacrificial love.
The Art of Bookmaking and the Glory of Craftsmanship
By Joseph Sunde
The American economy has undergone a range of transitions, from agrarian to industrial to information-driven. Given our new-found status, manual labor is increasingly cast down in the popular imagination, replaced by romanticized dreams about white-collar jobs, bachelor’s degrees, and ladder-climbing of a similar sort.
The Fruit of Our Labor Is Fellowship
By Joseph Sunde
“The fruit of our labor is fellowship. It’s community. It’s relationship.”
Will the Fruits of Common Grace Endure?
With the destruction of this present form of the world, will the fruit of common grace be destroyed forever, or will that rich and multiform development for which common grace has equipped and will yet equip our human race also bear fruit for the kingdom of glory as that will one day exist as the new earth, under the new heaven, overflowing with righteousness?
The Beauty of Oyster Farming
By Joseph Sunde
The oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay has severely dwindled, amounting to less than 1% of historic levels, according to the NOAA. In turn, from a consumer’s perspective, Virginia oysters have been increasingly replaced by other varieties from around the globe.
Cultural Task #1: Crucify Our Incipient Darwinism
By Joseph Sunde
One of the long-running mistakes of the church has been its various confinements of cultural engagement to particular spheres (e.g. churchplace ministry) or selective “uses” (e.g. evangelistic conversion). But even if we manage to broaden the scope of our stewardship — recognizing that God has called us to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty across all spheres of creation — our imaginations will still require a strong injection of the transformative power of Jesus.
Dory Rowing in the Canyon: Where Work and Wonder Meet
By Joseph Sunde
One day, while rowing down the Colorado River, Amber Shannon suddenly realized her vocation. “I really wanted to row little wooden boats down big rapids with big canyon walls,” she says. “That was the life dream.”
It may sound impractical to some, but tour guide John Shocklee calls being a boatman in the Grand Canyon “the most coveted job in the world.” “It’s definitely easier to get a PhD than it is to get a dory here in the Grand Canyon,” he says.
Rediscovering Beauty: Flannery O’Conner on the Economy of Wonder
An emphasis on the need for practical use is beneficial when applied to goods in the market, so as to meet the ever changing demands of the consumer. But the value of some goods cannot be reduced to a selling price. One such good is beauty.
The Joyful Seriousness of Christmas
By Joseph Sunde
As Christians living in a secular age, there’s a temptation to use Christmas as a wedge to wage epic new battles to restore Christendom. But despite the flurry of hackneyed “War on Christmas” tropes, there is, alas, something rather amiss.