Tag Archives: COVID-19

“Sweet Quarantine” by Nicolas Riel (Single Launch)

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Brenton Dickieson

I’m pleased to announce that my son, Nicolas, is launching his new single today! With singer-songwriter wit in an indie rock performance, “Sweet Quarantine” was written out of the depths of Nicolas’ experience of our most recent apocalypse, the COVID … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, News & Links | Tagged COVID-19, End of the World, Local Music, music, Nicolas Riel, pandemic, Prince Edward Island, writing | 3 Comments

Near-Inkling Martyn Skinner’s Near-Future Pandemic Poem: A Reading by Dale Nelson

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Old Rectory or The Interview by Martyn Skinner. Wilton, Salisbury, Wiltshire: Michael Russell Ltd., 1984. 107 pages. Luke, known as Old Rectory, took up the hermit’s life many years ago, even before the time of the pandemic that sprang from … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Bede Griffiths, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, COVID-19, Dale Nelson, Inklings, Martyn Skinner, Old Rectory or The Interview, pandemic, The Golden String | 5 Comments

The Remarkable Ordinary, with Frederick Buechner

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

A few weeks ago, I wrote about being “Enslaved to the Pressure of the Ordinary.” This was a quotation I found in The Screwtape Letters, and what I thought was a self-revelation I had during our COVID-19 lockdown and the “new … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reviews | Tagged A Room Called Remember, COVID-19, Frederick Buechner, Mario Savio, Systematic Racism, Systematic Violence, The Alphabet of Grace, The Remarkable Ordinary, The Screwtape Letters, Whistling in the Dark | 5 Comments

Always Winter, Never Christmas Dinner

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I admit it: the turkey was a bit of a panic purchase. There had been an article in the news about a run on Christmas turkeys, and I found myself settling for the store brand version of a Butterball instead … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, Christmas, COVID-19, lion the witch and the wardrobe, Narnia, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, pandemic, Scrooge | 13 Comments

Enslaved to the Pressure of the Ordinary: What Screwtape Taught Me About my COVID Experience

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

It really has been an extraordinary year. For those future readers who haunt these literary halls, 2020 began easily enough. The British were brexiting, the Americans were engulfed in a couple of primaries to see which old white man would … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged apocalyptic literature, COVID-19, online teaching, pandemic, post-apocalyptic, SF, Teaching, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters | 12 Comments

How to Pray for America on Election Day–And the Days That Follow

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Today, millions of Americans will go to the polls for what both leading candidates–sitting President Donald Trump (Republican, conservative) and former Vice-President Joe Biden (Democrat, liberal)–are calling the most important election in a generation. From a broader Christian perspective, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged American politics, COVID-19, Election 2012, Election 2016, Election 2020, Pints with Jack, Political Theology, The Screwtape Letters, Theology of Culture | 10 Comments

Anne of Green Gable’s Day at the Exhibition in Charlottetown (in Memory of Old Home Week)

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Tonight is the night for the famous Gold Cup & Saucer race in Charlottetown. Every summer, the stands at the track are packed with racing fans following a week of races and the Exhibition–everything you can imagine in a town fair. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Green Gables: The Original Manuscript, Carolyn Strom Collins, COVID-19, Gold Cup & Saucer, L.M. Montgomery, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Old Home Week, Prince Edward Island | 17 Comments

Superinfection, COVID-19, and C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I am sure I am not the only person who is looking back into history to help me think about the current moment of social unrest. In fact, I know I’m not. For example, I am following an engaging series … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged C.S. Lewis, COVID-19, Gilead, Great Depression, Marilynne Robinson, novel coronavirus, spanish flu, That Hideous Strength, Till We Have Faces, WWI | 26 Comments

I Am Legend: Book vs. Film(s)

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I am preaching tomorrow on the topic, “It is not Good for Man to be Alone” (Gen 2:18). I have decided to use Robert Neville from I Am Legend as the starting point. I Am Legend took on a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Bob Marley, books, COVID-19, film adaptation, H1N1, I Am Legend, Middle Earth, Night of the Living Dead, Peter Jackson, pop culture, Reading, Recovery, Redemption Song, Richard Matheson, Theology of Culture, vampires, Will Smith, zombies | 18 Comments

C. S. Lewis and Friends Colloquium Postponed, but Student Paper Contest Continues

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Here is a victim of COVID-19 that I talked about on Monday. The 2020 C.S. Lewis & Friends Colloquium at Taylor University has been postponed from June 2020 to June 2021. I am quite disappointed as this was part of … Continue reading →