I wrote about Harry Clarke's resplendent stained glass #MotherofSorrows window. . Why is this window unusual? Mary is sitting ON TOP of the cross with Jesus. What seems like a scandalous decision actually has a lot of theological rationale. www.dappledthings.org/deep-down-th...

To train their attention and awaken a sense of wonder, I invite students to draw three flowers. They might not always be artistically perfect, but they almost always make me smile.

My dad once dressed up as the Easter bunny to hand out Halloween candy. Kids were very confused.

Musicians Matthew Clark & Ordinary Time are performing in MD! Also: new books by Grace Hamman (on medieval virtues) & Ben Palpant (interviews w/ 17 poets); @lantadavis.bsky.social on a bone-decorated crypt in Rome; & a song by Mark Shiiba inspired by said crypt. artandtheology.org/2025/10/28/r...

This mandala is made completely from sand. Tibetan Buddhist monks painstakingly created it over several weeks. Since part of the point of mandalas is their transience, it's rare to see one. Monks usually brush up the sand, put it in a jar, and disperse it.

Just finished my weekend reading of Athanasius's Life of Antony and Jerome's Life of Paul the Hermit. There were demons, centaurs, satyrs, a raven that delivers daily bread, and lions that help dig a grave. Exactly the kind of wild, weird ride I love.

At that special age where you try to decide if you want to buy--and then live in--the pirate ship you find on Facebook marketplace.

My colleagues at the JWHC are brilliant, delightful people, and some of the best teachers I've ever known. Those qualities come out in their writing, too.

Summer moves at the same speed as a Tuesday afternoon in January.

My dad, who is over 65 and 200+ pounds, can still backflip off the low dive.

The first time we met my baby bro. So why am I making that face? My angelic-looking brother is stepping on my foot.

3 years ago, I learned to drive my dad's semi truck, which was so big and hard to drive, he nicknamed it the Beast. I wrote my book in the mornings, then hauled grain in the afternoons. My dad now has a proper hired man, who transformed the Beast into a Beauty.

After roaming around Ireland and England looking at Harry Clarke stained glass, I'm so grateful for the journey but a little sad that I've now seen the last one on my list.

I got to play with a hawk today. His name is Pierce. And I think I'm in love.

This made me laugh out loud in the art museum: Titled "Reader of Dostoevsky"

Maybe one of the strangest sacred artworks I've seen: This bearded woman is Wigelfortis, a folk saint who was miraculously given a beard to avoid marriage. But then her father had her crucified anyway.

International travel requires a very high tolerance for feeling stupid.

Tourist sites for #booknerds

London public transit is a form of art.

When you're too cheap to take a taxi, sometimes you find yourself meandering through the woods that inspired Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood.

Thinking of making this my teaching mug.

Dogs weren't allowed at Cambridge. So Lord Byron brought a bear.

Ely Cathedral's octagonal ceiling. Eight is the number for baptisms, symbolizing Easter and the new creation.

A prayer nut, intricately carved from boxwood. The level of detail on these Dutch devotional objects is astonishing.

After reading 20(!) Agatha Christie novels this spring, I was stoked to watch her Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the world.

Titian's Allegory of Prudence, one of my favorite depictions of practical wisdom. The Latin inscription above the faces isn't clear in my photo, but it says, "Learning from Yesterday, Today acts prudently lest by his action he spoils Tomorrow."

These ivory panels are one of the earliest depictions of Christ's death and resurrection (early 5th c).

This 1700-year-old Roman cup, called the Lycurgus Cup, glows red with liquid. It's such a sophisticated technique they're still not 100% sure how to recreate such a cup today.

A beautiful Ethiopian illustration, based on the icon at Santa Maria Maggiore that Pope Francis chose to be buried nearby.

Back in Belfast and revisiting Queen's. Still can't believe I got to teach in this gorgeous place for six months.

In Clarke's Mother of Sorrows stained glass, Mary holds Jesus on the cross. Saint Catherine and Francis hover on the side of the cross.

Pope Leo IV miraculously saved Rome from burning down. Let's hope this #PopeLeo can stop the world from burning down.

Francis Bacon's studio makes me feel pretty good about the state of my office.

Back in Ireland and reunited with Harry Clarke.

Thrilled, elated, (add all the other enthusiastic-feeling words here) to speak at one of my favorite events! Especially since the lineup includes Robin Wall Kimmerer, Barbara Brown Taylor, Ross Gay, and so many other incredible writers. #ffwgr ccfw.calvin.edu/festival-of-...

Any suggestions for Ireland or London? I've done the major attractions in both, but would love some outside-the-norm tips. Bonus points for sacred art and/or weird history.

Spotted at my local REI : probably the best reason for a return I've ever seen. Kudos to the REI employee who recorded that verbatim.

Graduation was Saturday. Grades are turned in. Time for my 10+year tradition. When I hear the swell of "Sweet Emotion," I know summer has officially begun.

Great books: steps to the good life

The entire campus smells like lilacs today.

Central Indiana transitions from winter to bugs.

Extend Earth Day all year, all your life, by learning to see the holy wonder in creation. My chapter in Becoming by Beholding on how bestiaries train us to see Creation as the mirror of its Creator was so fun to research and write. They show us how animals can teach us about God.

And a shout out on #EarthDay2025 to my colleague Jennifer Noseworthy, who's featured in @nytimes.com talking about the work of #creationcare in an area where such words are not always welcome (largely because they are misunderstood). www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/c...

It's that time of year again where I regret not becoming a math professor.

Book mail day! Since I teach academic high-achievers, I think a lot about how to encourage intellectual humility and lifelong learning that might look a lot like relearning what we thought we knew already. Looking forward to the read.

Hereby nominating the buffet plates of college football players as an eighth wonder of the world.

Some of my students carry water bottles that are almost the same size as they are.

"Among wise men there is no place at all left for hatred... For just as weakness is a disease of the body, so wickedness is a disease of the mind. And if this is so...they deserve pity rather than blame who suffer an evil more severe than any physical illness." --Boethius

This whole post is fascinating, but Guatemala's Holy Week carpets--made from flowers, fruits, and DYED SAWDUST--are astonishingly beautiful.

One of my students crafted his own sword skateboard.