Happy #TolkienReadingDay everybody!

I've been thinking of Neville Longbottom as the Sam Gamgee of Hogwarts.

Dear friends, HOLY MOOT IS NEARLY HERE!! (So if you're coming, please register ASAP!) Come and join us for a memorable day with some of the best minds discussing 'Light and High Beauty'! REGISTER NOW and bring your friends! In-person: $50 Online: $20 www.eventbrite.com/e/holy-moot-...

Dear friends, HOLY MOOT IS NEARLY HERE!! (So if you're coming, please register ASAP!) Come and join us for a memorable day with some of the best minds discussing 'Light and High Beauty'! REGISTER NOW and bring your friends! In-person: $50 Online: $20 www.eventbrite.com/e/holy-moot-...

Dearly beloved! Holy Moot II will be here in seven short days, and registrations are rolling in: come and join us for a memorable day with some of the best minds devoting themselves to Tolkien and Theology! In-person: $50 Online: $20 REGISTER NOW!! www.eventbrite.com/e/holy-moot-...

HOLY MOOT IS IN 2 WEEKS! REGISTER NOW! In person: $50 Online-only: $20

RETVRN

HOLY MOOT IS IN 2 WEEKS! REGISTER NOW! In person: $50 Online-only: $20

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, COME TO HOLY MOOT! Our day conference on the interplay of Tolkien and Theology returns on Saturday, March 21! HOLY MOOT II: "LIGHT & HIGH BEAUTY" Join us in-person (in Charleston) for $50, or online for just $20! holymoot.org www.eventbrite.com/e/holy-moot-...

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 Glory to Father and to the Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

“You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.” (Graham Greene, Brighton Rock)

As we honor U.S. Presidents today, we want to share this video to remind us all that the office of the presidency of the United States of America is bigger than any one person, and that civility and respect for each other are traditional in our history. #PresidentsDay2026 🇺🇸

Hi friends (and enemies, and mere acquaintances), tickets for Holy Moot II are now available! Saturday, March 21 $50 in-person attendee, $20 online only Who will be the first to buy one??? www.eventbrite.com/e/holy-moot-...

I think I just found something cool. In Old English, to "boil" was usually spelled "wel" or "wyl" - like "welling." But in Bald's Leechbook, I just found this word, "bewyl." Old English used a lot of "be-" words. We only have a few left, like "beset." But "be-wyl" could have become "boil."

'So how can you see what your life is worth? Or where your value lies? You can never see through the eyes of man; You must look at your life, Look at your life through Heaven's eyes.'

So friends: HOLY MOOT II is coming! If you have contributions worth hearing on the interplay of Tolkien and Theology, please be in touch!

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home... #Tolkien #Hobbit

Much of history is just people waiting for someone else to do something.

showing the boys a sick rock i found

Yesterday was my 5th anniversary of being a US citizen. I remember feeling so pleased and wanting to celebrate and be happy; but my first full day of being an American was the day of the insurrection. I spent the day feeling disgusted, ashamed, and more than a little heartbroken.

So friends: HOLY MOOT II is coming! If you have contributions worth hearing on the interplay of Tolkien and Theology, please be in touch!

More people should follow @digitaltolkien.com. It's the most useful site for studying the books, and it's pretty cool, too. The work James and his team have done really makes my work on Tolkien easier. If I wonder how JRRT uses a certain word or words, this site is my first stop.

Glad I saved this by @longwall26.bsky.social

23 December 1931 | Dutch Jewish boy, Max Adolf Frits Cohen, was born at The Hague. He was deported to #Auschwitz from #Westerbork in December 1942. He was murdered in a gas chamber after the arrival selection.

the right attitude

Yesterday, I 'performed' at my first piano recital. It was kinda humbling to be an adult beginner surrounded by 7-11 year olds (many of whom were better than me). I have a theory that the discomfort of being a beginner is one of our major obstacles to flourishing.

Assigned “Out of the Silent Planet” by C. S. Lewis to my 11-year-old to read this week for school and he begrudgingly accepted the 2 chapters/day assignment. He’s on chapter on 13 and is reading while he makes lunch because he can’t put it down. #winning #booksky

I was just futzing w/ Apple Maps, and I discovered that part of the Illinois/Indiana border still respects what was once a severe meander in the Wabash River. Apparently since the border was set, the river has cut a new straight channel, leaving just an oxbow lake & a weird border kink as evidence.

Holiday sale ads making you frantic? Retreat with me to the leisurely Southfarthing with new prints today of this rarely-glimpsed and very special region of the Shire. More links in comments! #Tolkien #TolkienArt #OldWinyards #OldToby #Hobbits www.miriamellis.com/product-page...

There is approximately 300% too much food here. Happy Thanksgiving!

Couldn’t put this in our salad. Too alive!

The Christian ought to “know your enemy” so that they might better love them.

10 years ago, an old friend told me she wanted to find her faith again but didn’t know how. We met online weekly for 3 months, by which time she’d started praying again; 6 months later she’d joined a church and was writing worship songs. Don’t give up on your "ex-Christian" friends.

Locations of Lord of the Rings places. 🏔️

Was talking to a friend this week and she said her timeline is all church controversies and I said mine is all birds and I think mine wins.

Before ordination, you go through a long 'discernment process' wherein your brothers and sisters prayerfully work through your calling with you. I wish we (the Church) did something like this for all believers, not just clergy vocations. Knowing your calling is for everyone!

Been thinking about the times in my life when I had most adventures and from which I have the most stories to tell. The common factors? I was out of my comfort zone following God, and almost penniless. It's almost as if safety, ease, and affluence breeds bland, tepid dullness.

Today, November 1st, is All Saints’ Day. All Saints is the second most common church dedication in England, after St Mary. In rural Derbyshire, we care for a church with this very common dedication: All Saints', Ballidon. 📷© CB Newham

One of my favourite things about the US is that I have never heard of most of these.

'Gafcon has re-ordered the Anglican Communion by restoring its original structure as a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Formularies of the Reformation... we are now the Global Anglican Communion.' Quite a big deal. Time to pray. gafcon.org/communique-u...

A Brief History of Let’s Bring Back The Good Old Days 🧵

Curry < Leftover curry the next day

I think we should call it 2 Civil 2 War

The "Department of Homeland Security" which is living up to its Orwellian name has posted a video on Facebook of agents arresting (alleged) illegal aliens and titled the video "Bag it. Tag it. Take it down." This is grotesque. Even assuming every person in the video committed some criminal act,

I've been thinking about Patricia Routledge; wondering why she stands out to me from other theatrical greats. I think it is at least in part because she came to prominence (in the TV world at least) in middle age: A Woman of No Importance, Kitty, Mrs Bucket, Hetty Wainthrop, etc.

*Any new LOTR thing is announced* Me: *braces himself, expects the worst*