StephenBarkley.com

Every once in a while you find a song so brilliant that it sticks in your head for days. This is one of those songs. I’ve followed Louris for years now (through the Jayhawks and Golden Smog), and this is one of his finest songs. On the surface it seems like a simple country ditty—don’t [...]

Wise Blood: A Novel © 1962
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
236 pages

This book is overwhelming. O’Connor has a knack for placing her vividly imagined characters in bizarre (yet somehow appropriate) situations.
I’ve often thought that “classic” novels should be read for the beauty of their prose–the plot is often irrelevant. For example, you can read any random chapter [...]

In Rob Bell’s video, Everything Is Spiritual, he uses a great analogy: is a marker a circle or a rectangle? It depends how you look at it. It’s both.
I was faithfully reading Volume 3 of my Harvard Classics when I came across the same idea in Francis Bacon’s Essay, “Of Unity in Religion” (you can [...]

I’m still adjusting to the whole parenting thing. Let me share one of my frustrations with you: toys. I remember watching the commercials that came on during cartoons as a kid, longing to own every single trinket that was marketed towards my age bracket. Now, I feel differently. I’ve turned my back on that childhood [...]

Wintergreen: Reflections from Loon Lake © 1999
Key Porter Books
150 pages

Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
If you’ve ever spent time in the wilderness, you should read this book. You will find yourself mentally revisiting all the places you’ve camped. More than that, Hummel will make you want to return to the outdoors. Hummel’s love for nature is so contagious, [...]

I’m a sucker for complete editions of any author I enjoy. I found my treasured hardback copy of The Complete Father Brown Stories in a second hand bookstore in Stouffville, Ontario.
Chesterton’s Father Brown stories are brilliant in many ways. Aside from the clever mysteries he invents, the perspective of the protagonist—a Catholic priest—gives Chesterton many [...]

Contradictions. Flip-flops. U-turns. These words get a lot of mileage on CNN every election season. The pundits on one side are always looking to find opposing views within the other camp. The public can put up with a lot of things from a candidate, it seems, but not a change of mind.
A surface reading of [...]

Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation
© 2008
HarperOne
224 pages

I expected a lot from this book. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline (along with Lewis’ Mere Christianity) are the two most important books I’ve ever read. I’ve followed Foster for years now, reading everything he’s written. I’ve attended a fantastic Renovaré conference, and have even used [...]

This post might be better titled, “Out of Context”. I was reading Richard Feynman’s collection of short works, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, last night. In it was a paragraph that, while aimed as a critique of blind religion, oddly bolstered my own faith:
You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and [...]

The Violent Bear It Away: A Novel © 1960
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
243 pages

I’m almost at a loss for words after finishing this book. I picked it up after reading Rowan William’s discussion of her work. I was unprepared for the power of her prose.
O’Connor has an uncanny ability to get inside the minds of the [...]