Tag Archives: Death

The Living Lie, But Dead Men Tell the Truth: The Screwtape Letters and Ivan Ilych

Posted on April 1, 2020 by

In Leo Tolstoy’s brilliant novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych (1886), there is a curious pun in the English translation I use (Aylmer Maude): “The dead man lay, as dead men always lie” (96). As the title suggests, The Death of Ivan … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Celebrations of Life: 30 Years, 4 Years, Today

Posted on February 4, 2020 by

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of my father and baby brother. I saw them perish in a fire when I was a boy–an event that has shaped not just my family life, but my entire understanding of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

A Grief Observed: A Talk on the Anniversary of My Parents’ Deaths, with C.S. Lewis

Posted on February 4, 2019 by

Here is a little piece I did this time last year. This past week had that frightful cold snap once again–experienced throughout our entire continent–and the cold has finally broken. But on this day, February 4th, it is hard not … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

11/22/63: The Day that C.S. Lewis Died

Posted on November 22, 2018 by

This year I introduced an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Reflections, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Last Letter of J.R.R. Tolkien, on the 45th Anniversary of His Death

Posted on September 3, 2018 by

I have just finished reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1982), which is fitting given that this is the 45th anniversary of his death (2 Sep 1973). With help from Christopher Tolkien, noted writer, broadcaster, and biographer Humphrey Carpenter collected the letters … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Letters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

A Grief Observed: A Lecture on the Anniversary of My Parents’ Deaths

Posted on February 5, 2018 by

It was a little eerie returning home on Saturday evening. My wife and I went to see the Oscar-nominated SF Fairy Tale, The Shape of Water. It was cold, terribly cold. With the wind chill it was approaching -30 Celsius (below -20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

11/22/63: The Day that C.S. Lewis Died

Posted on November 22, 2017 by

This is a rewriting of a post from the 50th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ death in 2013. Lewis died on the same day as American president John F. Kennedy and English public intellectual and dystopian writer, Aldous Huxley. Though Lewis … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

For My Mother

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

You may have noticed that my posting has hardly been personal over the past couple of weeks. It is a week of difficult anniversaries. February 4th is the day my father and little brother perished in a fire, and last … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

See My Guest Blog at Theological Miscellany

Posted on July 15, 2016 by

I am pleased to be recently included in the “Theo-musings of Westminster Theological Centre faculty and friends” at the blog, Theological Miscellany. With the publication of my article, “‘Die Before You Die’: St. Paul’s Cruciformity in C.S. Lewis’s Narrative Spirituality” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Original Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From Golgatha to the Gallows: On the Crucifixion of Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

Posted on July 4, 2016 by

Jewish people have a deeply difficult relationship with the cross. Once a Roman instrument of torture and oppression, the Christian transformation of that symbol brought Jewish people no relief. Racial antisemitism begins in Europe beneath the symbol of that cross. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments