During Zinequest 2021, I wrote a piece at Mere Orthodoxy about the design choices and theology behind Back Again from the Broken Land, a game I wrote together with my husband. The game is Tolkien-inspired—it's about small adventures walking home from a big war. Part of our goal was making it Tolkien-like in the action… Read More
Tag: grace
The Fourth Turning and America’s Demons
Will Arbery's play Heroes of the Fourth Turning was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (and oddly reminiscent of late nights with my college friends—though the protagonists hang out in a backyard, not on a roof). I reviewed it for The American Interest. The praise for the show has frequently taken Teresa’s world-historical perspective—the show is remarkable because these… Read More
Killing Tyranny with Kindness in The Winter’s Tale
No villain ruins Leontes but himself—no wicked daughters deceive him with flattery, no Iago drips poison in his ear. In an instant he becomes convinced, despite the lack of evidence, that his wife Hermione has become the lover of King Polixenes of Bohemia, his dear friend. As he spirals into self-sustaining despair, Leontes becomes a… Read More
Victoria Sweet on Servant Leadership
I've loved both of Victoria Sweet's books so much, that I ordered a copy to keep while the library book was still in my house. (I had to transfer all my dog-ears). I read God's Hotel first, and I've just finished Slow Medicine. One of her stories about being a temporary doctor (filling a gap in a relatively… Read More
The Dangers of Keeping Sorrow Secret
Douthat’s column suggest that it’s a mistake to assume that misery is always an imposition, something that can’t be “anything but terrifying.” If nothing else, he writes, sharing misery is a kind of truth-telling. The more pressure we feel to keep it private, the more warped our view of the world becomes. [...] Sharing sorrow… Read More