The ancient Greeks held the Pythia, priestess of the temple of Apollo and commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, in the highest regard. She occupied perhaps the most important religious position in the Greek world, said to be in direct communion with Apollo himself, delivering the god's responses to supplicants' questions in dactylic hexameters. … Continue reading Knowing Ourselves

I have recently finished, for something like the fourth or fifth time, Susanna Clarke's historical fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. One of my favourite books, it imagines an entire history of magic and fairies in England, a history which by the time of the Napoleonic Wars (when the story is set) has been … Continue reading On Magic And Theology

A version of this article appeared originally in the Et Cetera, Regent College's student newspaper, on September 11, 2018. One of the first in-depth conversations I had with my fellow students at Regent College was about writing in books. To my surprise, I found that I was one of only two people at the table … Continue reading On Marginalia

This article originally appeared in the March 13, 2018 issue of Et Cetera, Regent College's student newspaper. The weekend was tough. A New Testament midterm meant that I didn’t have as much time to work on the Christian Thought & Culture paper, and I still had to do the weekly discussion question. Top things off … Continue reading The Source of All Knowing

September, 1996. I was ten years old and channel surfing, or possibly I'd just finished a movie. But somehow I came across a certain program. There were people in uniforms of different colours and some very detailed prosthetics and a large alien monster. I tuned in about halfway through the show, but managed to figure out … Continue reading Star Trek: Boldly Going…

They say you should show instead of tell. I'm not as fond of the phrase. Words can't show anything in the literal sense, they can only tell things. But the point is valid. We only want you to tell us interesting things. Let me try to illustrate the point. I could tell you that Mrs. … Continue reading Mrs. Bumble’s Cake

Like most people, one of the first things I do after getting home is turn on my computer and log into Facebook. I catch up with what my friends are saying, doing, and thinking. A number of times in the last several weeks, I've found myself coming home from work in a good mood; maybe we … Continue reading The Power of Words

I have a strange form of writer's block. Most people imagine writer's block as staring at a blank page not knowing what words to put down. That's not my problem. My problem is that I have about ten different pages in front of me, all of them half-full of words, and I don't know which … Continue reading Bottleneck

Beginnings are crucial in stories. They don't just convey information; they prepare us for what's going to be important in the tale that follows. Stories are best when they focus on characters, so it follows that the best beginnings focus on them too. Some people think a story needs to start off in high gear and … Continue reading The Best Beginnings

It's an interesting time to be a geek, at least for me. It seems like a month hasn't gone by without some movie, television series, or book marking an anniversary. Superman turned 75, Star Trek: The Next Generation turned 25, and on November 23rd another celebrated franchise is hitting its own milestone. Doctor Who is turning … Continue reading Doctor Who: A 50th Anniversary Appreciation