"Creating Culture"

In my "Fall Into Reading" post, I mentioned that I'm looking forward to reading Andy Crouch's book Culture Making. That's because I read this wonderful excerpt of the book at Christianity Today's website. What a terrific essay on faith and culture! It got my thinking-about-culture and creative juices flowing! He not only says important things about our attitude toward and engagement with culture (things that resonated with my heart and mind) but he says them so well that it's just a pleasure to read. Articulate, organized and thought-provoking. Check it out.

I'm due to write another "faith and arts talk" post soon. Our weekly youth gathering is still reflecting together on faith and art. This week we're reading Makoto Fujimura. I chose the particular essay before I knew (oh happy coincidence) that he was featured on the cover of the same CT magazine that's carrying Crouch's article. So stayed tuned.

All this reflecting, plus the commenting Erin and I are beginning to do on our Madeleine L'Engle blog (we're reading her wonderful Walking on Water together) actually has me writing again. Not just reviews and assigned newspaper articles. I wrote two poems today and have begun looking with real hope at possible revisions of a story I originally wrote 15 years ago. 15 years ago! It's a story I finished that has nonetheless never left me alone, and it seems to be crying out for a re-write. I'm excited but nervous about diving back into story-writing...it's been a while.