Miscellany: Vivaldi, Amalekites, and a New Novel That Comes With Its Own Playlist
Plus, Phillip goes to Europe and Andy goes to Hutchmoot.
And they’re off! This Sunday, the Johnston clan will drive to the Dover ferry port for their first European holiday. Nothing too daunting — just wending their way through France and Belgium up to the Netherlands — but they are looking forward to baguettes across the Channel, driving on the right/correct side of the road (but with the wheel on the right/wrong side of the car…) and some family cycling in the Dutch flatlands. Wish them luck!
Reading: For preaching on the Jerusalem Council recently (Acts 15), Phillip picked up Peter Leithart’s Delivered From the Elements of the World again to re-read the most sensible understanding of biblical circumcision he’s come across. He read the book upon its release in 2016, but my goodness. It is a bold, ground-shifting work. He wasn’t ready for it seven years ago, and might not be now, but he’s glad it exists. Leithart also has the best take on the war in Israel that you’re likely to read. Also, a new novel by Francis Spufford is always an event for Phillip, so he’s enjoying listening to Cahokia Jazz, a noir murder mystery set in an alternative 1920s America that even has an accompanying playlist. The novel is out in the UK, but doesn’t hit American shelves until February. Look out for it!
Listening: Have you seen that Spotify Premium now has audiobooks? (Also available in the U.S. later this year; sorry.) Phillip is torn. So many titles we’ve recently recommended here on Three Things are available for your listening pleasure: Remaking the World, Digital Liturgies, Self Made, Dominion and more. But will it be “even more damaging than music streaming because books are typically only read once, while music is often streamed many times”? Is it less rapacious than Audible? Is that the wrong question? Maybe Mozart can help.
Last week, Andy enjoyed the Rabbit Room’s annual conference, Hutchmoot, a feast of art and faith and conversations. (If you missed it, fear not. The lectures from the conference will eventually appear on the Hutchmoot podcast.)
Reading: Anna Friedrich’s new poetry Substack, Monafolkspeak. Start with Holy Saturday. Then read her five poems on the Rabbit Room Poetry Substack.
Listening: Andy’s son’s Charlotte Mason-style kindergarten is listening to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons together and it has reignited Andy’s love for this hauntingly beautiful recomposition of Vivaldi’s masterpiece by Max Richter. Andy has also been treating himself to the Lord of the Rings audiobook read by Andy Serkis, Gollum himself. Obviously, he nails the part of Gollum. Also, if you are a LOTR fan and want to read a beautiful book by another True Denizen of Middle Earth, read Mark Eddy Smith’s Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues: Exploring the Spiritual Themes of The Lord of the Rings. Most auxiliary books explaining the redemptive themes in beloved stories are cheap-thrill money grabs - this one isn’t. It enlarges the soul.
New from Pattern Bible: (Andy’s Bible + theology Substack): The Mist in the Wasteland: Introducing the River of Life