A Constant Sword
The drug of comeuppance no longer satisfies me. I’ve tasted it too many times, mostly in movies, or in the rolling celluloid fiction of my mind. The high has vanished now, leaving in its place a shadow that looks like Saint Peter drawing a sword at Gethsemane, an echo that sounds like a Savior disappointed, even slightly alarmed.
Read More ›The Healing Sacrament of The Cinema
It’s a recent storytelling trend, but the concept might be relevant to reality right now: sometimes, it can feel like we’re all living in alternate universes.
Read More ›Square Halo Books: Culture Care and Conferences
Twenty-five years ago, my husband Ned and I agreed to be a part of Square Halo Books. When this venture started, we were just entering our thirties. We had a home, a church, a young daughter, and another little one on the way—our life moved in a sweet, ordinary rhythm.
Read More ›Welcome to Hutchmoot 2022
As many of you know, the original Rabbit Room was in the back of a pub called The Eagle and Child, which was right across the street from another Inklings haunt called The Lamb and Flag. From what I read, Lewis and Tolkien changed pubs because they were annoyed that the Eagle and Child had introduced a dartboard. I happen to agree that a good pub’s goodness is due to its hospitality to good conversation. Loud music and television screens and party games have no place in the pubs of my dreams.
Read More ›The Beauty of Bluey
A Jennifer Trafton print of a quote from Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga adorns a shelf in my daughter’s room. Vibrant colors speak over the nursery, “It’s a story the maker has always told, and the story, my child, is true.”
Read More ›Letter From a Benevolent Spammer
I discovered the following note in my email inbox yesterday at 3:08 a.m. (Don’t ask me why I was up that late — the internet is a vortex.) The email subject line was: READ THIS TO AVOID BEING EATEN BY SHARKS. It was from one, Father Samuel Persla. It said:
Read More ›The Generosities of a Dungeon Master
When I was eleven, I enrolled in a five-week kids program at the University of Louisville. One class featured a new role-playing game that was sweeping America: Dungeons and Dragons. I was both fascinated and overwhelmed by the scope of gameplay, but just as I was finally getting my bearings, word spread that D&D was demonic and led to violence. So, my light blue plastic dice disappeared for the rest of my childhood, and I returned to Parcheesi.
Read More ›Hutchmoot Podcast & Video: What John le Carré’s Spies Teach Us About Conspiracy Theories
The Hutchmoot Podcast features some of our favorite sessions recorded at our annual conference which celebrates art, music, story, and faith in all their many intersections. Today, we’re pleased to share a session led by Mark Meynell: “What John le Carré’s Spies Teach Us about Conspiracy Theories,” from 2021’s Hutchmoot: Homebound.
Read More ›Oh, Freedom: Words & Music for Juneteenth
[Editor’s note: On Juneteenth in 2020, Ruth Naomi Floyd (known by many in the Rabbit Room readership for her amazing Hutchmoot sessions) shared a lovingly curated combination of her own words, two letters from former prisoners of the American slavery system, and her performance of the song “Oh, Freedom.” This story of a freedom “prayed for, hoped for, cried for, moaned for, even fought for” carries an abiding resonance that we want to extend to our readership this year as well. We encourage you to take in these words and melodies slowly and attentively.]
Read More ›My Re-enchanted World
For the first half of my life, there was the sacred and there was the secular, and never the twain shall meet. I may not have heard this directly from the pulpit, but I definitely saw it lived out in the evangelical world of the eighties and nineties.
Read More ›Symbols on the Doorframe
[Editor’s note: Our friends at Square Halo books have a brand new collection of essays called Wild Things and Castles in the Sky. Together, these essays form one cohesive guide for choosing books for children. Today, we’re grateful to share with you an essay from the book written by Shanika Churchville, in which she discusses the ways that the book of Deuteronomy offers a guide to families on how to discuss race with children.]
Read More ›Taste and See Screening Event Guide: How to Make Ricotta
Taste and See is now streaming! And to assist you in savoring the pilot film, the Rabbit Room has partnered with the Taste and See team to create a unique screening event guide. True to the spirit of the film, the event guide is designed to take you beyond the screen and into the company of friends and family around a table. Included in the guide are discussion questions and a simple, accessible recipe for homemade ricotta crostini—a cheese which figures prominently in the pilot film.
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