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Carl Trueman traces the historical roots of many hot-button issues
such as transgenderism and homosexuality, offering thoughtful
biblical analysis as he uncovers the profound impact of the sexual
revolution on modern human identity.
THE LITTLE WAY OF RUTHIE LEMING follows Rod Dreher, a Philadelphia
journalist, back to his hometown of St. Francisville, Louisiana
(pop. 1,700) in the wake of his younger sister Ruthie's death. When
she was diagnosed at age 40 with a virulent form of cancer in 2010,
Dreher was moved by the way the community he had left behind
rallied around his dying sister, a schoolteacher. He was also
struck by the grace and courage with which his sister dealt with
the disease that eventually took her life. In Louisiana for
Ruthie's funeral in the fall of 2011, Dreher began to wonder
whether the ordinary life Ruthie led in their country town was in
fact a path of hidden grandeur, even spiritual greatness, concealed
within the modest life of a mother and teacher. In order to explore
this revelation, Dreher and his wife decided to leave Philadelphia,
move home to help with family responsibilities and have their three
children grow up amidst the rituals that had defined his family for
five generations-Mardi Gras, L.S.U. football games, and deer
hunting.
As David Brooks poignantly described Dreher's journey homeward in a
recent New York Times column, Dreher and his wife Julie "decided to
accept the limitations of small-town life in exchange for the
privilege of being part of a community."
The gospel teaches that every human is sacred. Refugee children and
Islamist terrorists. Police officers and young African Americans.
Unborn babies, always, and also abortionists. Orange-haired casino
owners, former First Ladies, progressive hipsters,
prosperity-gospel televangelists, members of Congress,
Confederate-flag-waving white nationalists? Sacred. This absurd
claim is at the heart of the gospel. Each person is created in the
image and likeness of God. Each is someone for whom Jesus died. And
if this is true, we have much work to do. The writers in this issue
may not agree on the best ways and means, but each challenges us to
consider the implications of this gospel of life that makes no
exceptions. Also in this issue: -- A former asylum seeker returns
to Iraq to stand with Christians on the run from ISIS. -- Shane
Claiborne tells us why abolishing the death penalty is the
church’s business. -- Joel Salatin, America’s most famous
farmer, reveals what pigs can teach us about the glory of God. --
John Dear reports on the Vatican’s historic turn toward
nonviolence. -- Erna Albertz tells Richard Dawkins how her sister
with Down syndrome can help him. -- Gun owners respond to gun
violence with a fresh take on “swords into plowshares.” -- Ron
Sider looks at the consistently pro-life witness of the early
church. -- A hospice nurse reflects on euthanasia and the value of
being a burden. -- Jason Landsel asks what made MohammadMuhammad
Ali great. Then there’s new poetry, book reviews, a children’s
story, insights from Pope Francis and George MacDonald, and art by
Pawel Kuczynski, Xenia Hausner, William H. Johnson, Käthe
Kollwitz, and Deidre Scherer. Plough Quarterly features stories,
ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action.
Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book
reviews, and art to help you put Jesus’ message into practice and
find common cause with others.
In an age of distraction, this issue of Plough Quarterly looks at
inwardness – how sustainable human community and social activism
must be rooted in the spiritual life. How much of your day is spent
in reality, and how much in a fake world? We’ve learned that
screen time is bad for you, too much media consumption damages your
heart, and Facebook can make you mentally ill. We’re aware of the
mind-altering power of advertising, the dehumanizing passions of
our polarized politics, and the fact that millions of us have
learned to multitask while watching footage of refugees drowning.
But what are we to do about it? If this fake world is invading our
souls, it’s in our souls that we must find the cure. Only a
return to inwardness can bring distracted moderns back to Jesus and
to constructive work for his kingdom. Here activists may object:
Isn’t it the height of selfishness to retreat into our interior
life when we ought to be out saving starving children? Yet
Christians through the ages have insisted that inwardness is
crucial to the life of discipleship. It’s what keeps us from
falling for demagogues and false gospels, from wasting life on
superficialities, and from ignoring our neighbor. In fact,
throughout history it has often been the mystics who were most
active in serving others. In true Plough fashion, this issue brings
together a colorful cast of examples: from medieval Beguines and
Benedictines to Gerard Manley Hopkins, Simone Weil, and Fannie Lou
Hamer, to contemporary voices like Robert Cardinal Sarah, Johann
Christoph Arnold, and three persecuted Syrian priests. These lives
offer us glimpses of the real world from which our fake world seeks
to distract us, and can guide us in our own refusal to conform.
Also in this issue: • Poetry from Gerard Manley Hopkins and
Malcolm Guite • Insights on inwardness from Meister Eckhart,
Eberhard Arnold, Marguerite Porete, Simone Weil, and Isaac
Penington • A forum on the Benedict Option with Rod Dreher, Ross
Douthat, Jacqueline C. Rivers, and Randall Gauger • Artwork by
Jason Landsel, Bruce Herman, Jane Chapin, Graham Berry, Fra
Angelico, Francisco de Zurbarán, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale,
Matthew J. Cutter, John August Swanson, Vittorio Matteo Corcos, and
Leon Dabo Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for
people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you
in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to
help you put Jesus’ message into practice and find common cause
with others.
THE LITTLE WAY OF RUTHIE LEMING follows Rod Dreher, a Philadelphia
journalist, back to his hometown of St. Francisville, Louisiana
(pop. 1,700) in the wake of his younger sister Ruthie's death. When
she was diagnosed at age 40 with a virulent form of cancer in 2010,
Dreher was moved by the way the community he had left behind
rallied around his dying sister, a schoolteacher. He was also
struck by the grace and courage with which his sister dealt with
the disease that eventually took her life. In Louisiana for
Ruthie's funeral in the fall of 2011, Dreher began to wonder
whether the ordinary life Ruthie led in their country town was in
fact a path of hidden grandeur, even spiritual greatness, concealed
within the modest life of a mother and teacher. In order to explore
this revelation, Dreher and his wife decided to leave Philadelphia,
move home to help with family responsibilities and have their three
children grow up amidst the rituals that had defined his family for
five generations-Mardi Gras, L.S.U. football games, and deer
hunting.
As David Brooks poignantly described Dreher's journey homeward in a
recent New York Times column, Dreher and his wife Julie "decided to
accept the limitations of small-town life in exchange for the
privilege of being part of a community."
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