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On Avoiding “Fantastical” Weddings

From First Thoughts

A couple of days ago, Rowan Williams addressed the matter of weddings becoming ever more extravagant events:Speaking at a debate entitled “Marriage: Love or Law” in London, the former Archbishop of Canterbury said that the “marketisation of marriage” must be curtailed.He . . . . Continue Reading »

On Hospitality and Unstructured Time

From First Thoughts

I’m a little late to this party, but Meredith Schultz has a good piece over at Fare Forward on hospitality for and among millennials. At the end she offers a few suggestions for habits and postures that will help with the practice of hospitality. I was particularly struck by her remarks on . . . . Continue Reading »

What Phil Robertson Gets Wrong

From First Thoughts

One brief remark on the Phil Robertson fiasco . I understand and share all the concerns about religious liberty, which Rod Dreher , Russell Moore , and Mollie Hemingway have done a good job (as usual) of articulating. But just because someone quotes 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and is opposed to same-sex . . . . Continue Reading »

Missing Housemates

From First Thoughts

Via Helen Rittelmeyer on Twitter, here is a lovely post by Brooke Conti on what we miss when we miss friendships from our younger days: When I was in my twenties, I was enmeshed in my friends’ lives in ways that went beyond our constant phone calls. We actually lived with each other, even . . . . Continue Reading »

Friendship After Christ

From First Thoughts

Andrew Sullivan points to an unenthusiastic review by Stuart Kelly of A. C. Grayling’s new book on friendship , which just arrived in my mailbox and which I’m looking forward to perusing. In particular, Sullivan highlights Kelly’s criticism that Grayling doesn’t give enough . . . . Continue Reading »

The Specificities of Friendship

From First Thoughts

In a comment on my last post , Karen K wrote, I wonder if your book will be exploring the practical aspects too? What I see is difficulty in people knowing how to form these kinds of deep friendships. So many lonely people walking around and we can’t seem to break through the barriers to . . . . Continue Reading »

Odd-Numbered Hospitality

From First Thoughts

Over at her always-stimulating blog today, LaVonne Neff writes about some of the ironies of her mother’s practice of hospitality in the late 1950s : Something you should know about tall women who seem reserved and even distant—they may just be shy or socially awkward, and they may really . . . . Continue Reading »