not of this world

the current double issue of first things has a review of bob dylan: the essential interviews, thought i’d share a fun excerpt:

The interviewer, sensing that he has stumbled upon something of fundamental importance to Dylan, presses a line of questions about religion. Dylan clearly has been thinking about Jesus Christ. “Who does Christ become when he lives inside of a certain person?” he muses aloud. “What would Christ be in this day and age if he came back?” The interviewer, a bit startled, reminds Dylan that he grew up Jewish. “I’ve never felt Jewish,” Dylan responds. He goes on to recall “seeing a Time magazine on an airplane a few years back and it had a big cover headline, ‘IS GOD DEAD?’ I mean, that was - would you think that was a responsible thing to do? . . . You know I think the country’s gone downhill since that day.” This is clearly too much for the interviewer to digest, but he keeps on this topic for a moment longer to ask about Dylan’s view of the afterlife. “You mean, what do I think is in the great unknown? [Pause] Sounds, echoes of laughter.”

also discovered from an ad in that issue that our beloved Benjamin Wiker has a co-authored, very well reviewed new book out in which it is argued that nihilism is indeed exhausting, as portia (who true to form is already devouring a copy) put it.

and finally, for any of you who would want to know but haven’t yet heard, dean has discerned a vocation to the community of st. john and is asking for support.

the world continues to exhale seeming chaos in ever deafening strains, but tireless grace’s response is deliciously to abound all the more…
i love that dynamic.

a blessed solemnity to you all…