That rituals are not expressions of our belief systems; rather they themselves are a way to think—a way to know, is one of Johnson’s core insights. Practicing rituals, Johnson thinks, is “embodied knowing” at its finest.
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Featured Artist: Trung Pham
How do we embrace our adversity, tragedy, trauma and find strength and courage during the time of challenges? How to gather strength during the challenging times also depends on the aesthetic vision, that is, how to find beauty in the woundedness.
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A Paper Thin Distance (Conversation)
On February 16th of this year, Daryl Davis, an African American blues musician who engages with members of the Ku Klux Klan, sat down with Christian Picciolini, the former leader of a white-supremacist skinhead group, for a conversation at the New York Encounter. Their gripping discussion offers profound insight and ultimately hope for this moment in our nation.
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Simon’s Ravine
"And then after sitting for a while, a marvelous thing happened. I got up, and walked into my painting. I walked over the bridge that I had drawn, and up the stairs that disappeared into the background of my composition."
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The Moon and Me
As I searched my memory further, I smiled when I realized that this was just the kind of magic, just the kind of alchemy, which the moon has been working in my life for as long as I can remember.
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COVID-19 Edition
A Special Edition of Essays on Life in the Time of Pandemic
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The Importance of Being Inadequate
“I don’t know, I guess opera’s just not my thing,” I concluded, slouching against the wall of the music building hallway. After travelling across the state to Western Michigan University for a vocal competition, I’d sung some operatic repertoire for a panel of judges. Later in the day I received feedback from the judges, confirming, in part, what my teacher had been telling me for weeks.
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Featured Artist: Vincent Wil Hawley
We don’t know when our current situation will end, but we know what is occurring in close proximity to us now.
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Tradition and Authority in Luigi Giussani’s Educational Method
It’s more authentic to stand before a young person and humbly say, “I’ve found something I’m eager to share with you, and I want to provoke you to go on your own journey for the truth,” than to implicitly or explicitly deny that teachers, mentors, and other role models are speaking from tradition with authority. This kind of authority—the kind that loves the mystery of each human so much that it wants to guide each soul in the use of the great gift of freedom—is not a burdensome imposition. Rather, it’s a helping hand on the arduous journey of knowing one’s own purpose and place in the world.
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The Whole Wide World is Watchin’
Dare we not live out our true vocations as Christians just like Jesus did? Dare we not point to God’s victory over death by crying “Glory?” Were we not born for this very moment in the year 2020 A.D.? Were we not born for COVID-19?
