by Jason Joyner | Aug 1, 2007 | Blog, books, fiction, non-fiction, reading
My wife homeschools our two older boys. Of course this means mailing lists! How these people find out about you, I don’t know, but in no time we were receiving catalogs and whatnot related to homeschooling and curriculum.
I just got one catalog from Memoria Press called The Classical Teacher. It pushes classical education like Latin and rhetoric. What was interesting was a little article inside by Martin Cothran called “Is Fiction False?”
He discusses the idea that we can’t take all of our information in by just rational/logical means. He argues that fiction not only can speak to the head, but to the heart. A story can put a truth in a context and see how it works out.
A good quote from the article:
I have a friend who regularly asks me to recommend books for him to read. And among the books I recommend are a good dose of fiction, mostly novels. His response is always the same: a grimace, followed by the declaration, “Is that fiction? I just don’t read much fiction.” My rebuttal has become equally predictable: “Yes, I understand,” I say. “In fact, I’m thinking of only breathing out of one lung from now on.” Or: “I’m wondering why I need two eyes: I’m thinking of just putting one out.” He gets the message: you only limit your understanding if you limit yourself to expository or argumentative writing.
Good thoughts. We can know information, but we don’t necessarily know something. “”…By merely assenting to a proposition about something, we have understood it.” When fiction places a concept into a situation and sees how it works outside in an experiential realm, we can be more fully impacted by the concept.
So go read some good fiction before the summer days slip away.
Currently reading: (3 non-fiction and 3 fiction)
Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture
Intercessory Prayer
It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian
The Legend of the Firefish
Return of the Guardian King
Shivering World
by Jason Joyner | Aug 1, 2007 | Blog, books, fiction, non-fiction, reading
My wife homeschools our two older boys. Of course this means mailing lists! How these people find out about you, I don’t know, but in no time we were receiving catalogs and whatnot related to homeschooling and curriculum.
I just got one catalog from Memoria Press called The Classical Teacher. It pushes classical education like Latin and rhetoric. What was interesting was a little article inside by Martin Cothran called “Is Fiction False?”
He discusses the idea that we can’t take all of our information in by just rational/logical means. He argues that fiction not only can speak to the head, but to the heart. A story can put a truth in a context and see how it works out.
A good quote from the article:
I have a friend who regularly asks me to recommend books for him to read. And among the books I recommend are a good dose of fiction, mostly novels. His response is always the same: a grimace, followed by the declaration, “Is that fiction? I just don’t read much fiction.” My rebuttal has become equally predictable: “Yes, I understand,” I say. “In fact, I’m thinking of only breathing out of one lung from now on.” Or: “I’m wondering why I need two eyes: I’m thinking of just putting one out.” He gets the message: you only limit your understanding if you limit yourself to expository or argumentative writing.
Good thoughts. We can know information, but we don’t necessarily know something. “”…By merely assenting to a proposition about something, we have understood it.” When fiction places a concept into a situation and sees how it works outside in an experiential realm, we can be more fully impacted by the concept.
So go read some good fiction before the summer days slip away.
Currently reading: (3 non-fiction and 3 fiction)
Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture
Intercessory Prayer
It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian
The Legend of the Firefish
Return of the Guardian King
Shivering World
by Jason Joyner | Aug 1, 2007 | Blog, creation, praise
I work in the middle of a high desert. We have to ride on a bus for almost an hour to get to work. This morning as I walked from the bus depot to my building, the sunrise was beautiful and awe-inspiring. The top of the dome of the sky was blue, but all along the rim of the sky were muted purples and pinks. As a side effect of Western fires, the eastern horizon blazed with orange and pink as the sun peeked out over the Teton Mountains and bathed the desert in early morning light.
There were a smattering of clouds to reflect some of the vivid colors of the dawn. It was just at the time when separate rays of sunshine could be discerned, flashing out to declare the coming of something powerful.
The sights this morning were beautiful enough. Coupled with the fresh clear air filling my lungs, peace radiated out from this.
Ah, God’s glory is evident in his creation. I was struck by the fact that the sunrise was so beautiful to look at, but I could only gaze so long before averting my eyes to prevent damage from our star. Just now I am starting to blink away the phantom image from daring to look just a little longer at the sight. So is God in His majesty. We look for Him, to Him. We hold on as hard as we can, yet we cannot fully know His splendor because it is too much for us. Still, we dare a peek, we try to grasp something of the transcendent to hold with us in our earth-bound lives.
Thank you Lord for the way You speak silently, in just the beauty and stillness of a desert morning.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6
(Post best read while listening to contemplative music like Mark Heard)
by Jason Joyner | Aug 1, 2007 | Blog, creation, praise
I work in the middle of a high desert. We have to ride on a bus for almost an hour to get to work. This morning as I walked from the bus depot to my building, the sunrise was beautiful and awe-inspiring. The top of the dome of the sky was blue, but all along the rim of the sky were muted purples and pinks. As a side effect of Western fires, the eastern horizon blazed with orange and pink as the sun peeked out over the Teton Mountains and bathed the desert in early morning light.
There were a smattering of clouds to reflect some of the vivid colors of the dawn. It was just at the time when separate rays of sunshine could be discerned, flashing out to declare the coming of something powerful.
The sights this morning were beautiful enough. Coupled with the fresh clear air filling my lungs, peace radiated out from this.
Ah, God’s glory is evident in his creation. I was struck by the fact that the sunrise was so beautiful to look at, but I could only gaze so long before averting my eyes to prevent damage from our star. Just now I am starting to blink away the phantom image from daring to look just a little longer at the sight. So is God in His majesty. We look for Him, to Him. We hold on as hard as we can, yet we cannot fully know His splendor because it is too much for us. Still, we dare a peek, we try to grasp something of the transcendent to hold with us in our earth-bound lives.
Thank you Lord for the way You speak silently, in just the beauty and stillness of a desert morning.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6
(Post best read while listening to contemplative music like Mark Heard)
by Jason Joyner | Jul 31, 2007 | Blog, goofiness, sci-fi, Star Wars
To this list from SciFiChick, I only say:
Star Wars fans nod, “Yes.”
by Jason Joyner | Jul 31, 2007 | Blog, goofiness, sci-fi, Star Wars
To this list from SciFiChick, I only say:
Star Wars fans nod, “Yes.”
