A Little Brain Food

"We need, once again, to relearn, and to teach the young, how to think. I often say in my diocese that I am passionate about the authority of scripture but equally passionate about the vital and necessary place of reason. We live in a world of unreason, where right and wrong have been reduced to personal preferences and ‘attitudes’, which can then be manipulated by smooth talk – like the verbal shift which says ‘credit’ when it means ‘debt’, and the equivalents of that in every sphere – and where people don’t need to think because they can drift along with the current mood. And you and I know that the next generation will need – boy, will they need! – to be able to think: to think hard, to think through where the world is going and what they need to do in it, to think not about how they can feather their own nests but how they can wisely serve their fellow human beings in God’s world." -N.T. Wright

My blog-reading is quite an eclectic mix these days. Sometimes I want to be challenged to think deep thoughts, to reason through difficult issues, to have my assumptions shattered.

Other days, I just want to see pictures of some one's kids or flowers.

I guess today was my day for the former, and I thought you might like to see where I have gone to read and think and reflect on current events that are challenging us.

First, The above quote from N.T. Wright, the Anglican bishop of Durham, can be found in a sermon he gave September 30th at Westminster Abbey, referencing the economic turmoil we are experiencing. If you think sermons are dull to read, you haven't read his! The man is gifted, articulate, and considered to by many to be one of Christendom's foremost contemporary thinkers. Find him at The N.T. Wright Page.

Next, I read Gerard V. Bradley's essay, "When Is It Acceptable For a "Pro-Life Voter" to Vote For a "Pro-Choice" Candidate?". Very timely, as you can imagine, and I learned a lot from him. The article appeared on the new web journal Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good. There are many excellent essays already posted there, including some interesting ones discussing greed, also in light of our economic problems.

Finally, there is an artist I have really come to appreciate recently, He Qi. He is a contemporary Chinese painter who is also a Christian. He interprets the Bible through his work in a uniquely Chinese way. It just gives me a fresh look at the Gospel's relevance to the whole world, not just the West. I hope you enjoy wandering though his online gallery.

Happy thinking!