Relating to the Material World
We’ve spent our Summer Season considering how to be present to our lives and the people around us. But what about being present to the stuff around us? Dose the material world matter?
Why we Create
Brian Brown joins Christina to explore why we often have a hard time relating to the material world, explaining why non-"spiritual" vocations matter, and justifying our interest in beauty. They also tell you why you should buy Why We Create, right here, right now:
Featured Articles
Imagination Redeemed Podcast
In every episode, we retell one of the great stories, then follow its illumination to delve deeper into conversation about how to enter into the life of the Christian imagination.
The Language of Creation
Join us as we explore the story of Lucy Pevensie yearning to wake the trees — and Aslan the Lion doing just that. Through C.S. Lewis's tale Prince Caspian, we’ll seek to reclaim a Christian vision for a reenchanted creation–not just the big, 30,000-foot view, but what to do with everyday objects.
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Anselm Voices
amY lEE’S “Four Parties”
Amy Lee unpacks Dr. John Skillen’s exploration of four “parties” that helped art to thrive during the Italian Renaissance: communities, patrons, advisors, and artists. While the Anselm community is culturally and contextually different from the Italian Renaissance in many ways, she argues that it seems to have grown into a similarly interconnected ecosystem that encompasses its own version of the four parties.
Hans Boersma’s “how to look for heaven in earth”
The world around us deserves our awe and wonder, but we can make the error of believing the good things of this world are the best we can have - we can idolize the creation and forget the Creator. On the other hand, if we believe that because this world is secondary to the next then all of our earthly endeavors are meaningless, we can be indifferent to God's works. Is there a third way?
Featured Poet: Mary Oliver
Dive into the Joy found in the poetic verse. | View more recommendations in“The Library”
“Mary Oliver has touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things.
This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver herself, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world.”
MUSIC Feature
FINDING MAGIC IN THE MUNDANE
Noah Love reviews John Mark McMillan’s album Deep Magic in a new column from Anselm.
Artist Feature
SLOW NOTICING
Isaac Hans introduces us to
the rhythmic artmaking of Rebekah Blum, Anselm's
Summer 2025 Feature Artist
Gatherings
Nature Journaling Workshop with Lisa Nowak
Sunday, August 3, 2025
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Team Breakfast
Saturday, August 9, 2025
9:00am – 10:30am
Shakespeare Play Reading
Saturday, August 16, 2025
4:00pm – 9:00pm
Campfire Tales
Saturday, August 23, 2025
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Time for Tea
Sunday, August 24, 2025
2:00pm – 4:00pm