“Students Flock to Seminaries, but Fewer See Pulpit in Their Future”

Okay, file this under “things that help me feel better about the twists and turns in my life.”
Last Spring, Neela Banerjee at the New York Times wrote about the increase in the number of people attending seminary and the decrease in the number heading to any parish ministry or leadership (“Students Flock to Seminaries, But [...]

Hermione Granger’s writing wisdom

Via John Granger’s HogwartsProfessor.com, this is one of four playful endings to the Harry Potter saga written by professional writers for the NY Times. The whole thing’s funny, but I especially love the part about word order.

July 8, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Hermione Tells All
By POLLY HORVATH
YOU’VE been coming in a lot lately, you and that little tyke, [...]

teaching writing AFFECTively

Two English 101 students today reminded me of the importance of writing instructors encouraging their students.  Both students complained about the same instructor.  Both felt the instructor made them feel like they’ll never learn to write well.  One came to tears over it.  One regretted not taking something else (which she had the option to [...]

EMPATHY and POETRY: how to be a good religious historian (and a good writer/thinker in general)

Here are some notes I took on October 26, 2005 while listening to Karen Armstrong being interviewed on “Speaking of Faith” (recorded November 25, 2004), along with some current comments.
As a “religious historian,” you must enter the minds of these mystics and sages and poets and keep on asking, “Buy why? But why?” You must [...]

Duke Divinity School’s “Center for Theological Writing”

Just wanted to make note of Duke Divinity School’s Center for Theological Writing at Duke Divinity School and this cool introduction:
Writing forms a constituent practice of the ministry, as integral as prayer and preaching, rather than a tool employed toward other ends. And like prayer and preaching, writing requires a lifetime’s commitment to growth and [...]

Einstein’s brain and thinking outside the box

I was just listening to an NPR interview (on Fresh Air) of Walter Isaacson talking about his new biography of Einstein: Einstein: His Life and Universe (Simon & Shuster, 2007), and I was caught by something Isaacson said right at the end of the interview. Dave Davies had asked him, “Einstein is a metaphor for [...]

Master of Divinity (M.Div.) with writing emphasis!

The Earlham School of Religion (Quaker) in Indiana has an M.Div. with a writing emphasis!  What a great idea.

Writing as Ministry
ESR’s ministry of writing emphasis is one facet of its Master of Divinity program that sets the school apart from its peers. While many seminaries [...]

“Thoreau kindles awareness” (Thoreau does it again!)

It’s refreshing to read high-schoolers getting excited about writing, thinking, even about “being awake” in the philosophical sense. It’s even better when it’s Thoreau who turns them on — or who wakes up their minds and souls, rather. It was Thoreau who did it for me, too — a quarter century ago.
Haley Henderson, a local [...]

the healing power of nature — any help with writing?

Over Christmas, while I was in southern california visiting my parents, I read an article by Lisa Roberts on the Healing Power of Nature.
Nature is a cure-all for human physical and emotional ills, almost. It can “quite the mind, boost creativity and self-esteem, and lead to an acceptance of self and spiritual connection.” And of [...]

an eye shadow named “mildew” (abstract vs concrete language)

For a while I’ve been curious as to how metaphors, similes, sense-oriented details — anything that gives the mind something “concrete” to grasp — work on the reader’s mind. It’s probably just something to do with the fact that we are embodied creatures, and since our physical life gives us, obviously, our most vivid experiences, [...]