William Blake on the Creative Spirit, Beauty, and Imagination: A Response to Brain Pickings

August 25, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, A few days ago, the ever excellent Brain Pickings, run by Maria Popova, posted an article about William Blake. The article, written by Ms. Popova, was titled, ”William Blake’s Most Beautiful Letter: A Searing Defense of the Imagination and the Creative Spirit,” and looked closely at a set of letters Blake wrote after being commissioned, through his friend George Cumberland, to paint pictures concerning... Read more

Friendship, Love, and the Arts: A Belated Review of Tolkien

August 24, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time St. Bartholomew’s Day The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, Last night my wife and I finally say down and watched the film Tolkien. I did my best to come to it with an open mind and tried to avoid reviews of the film before seeing it. I did not want my own first impressions too overly tainted by the opinions of others. Still, I went into it more hopeful than I at first felt because... Read more

Burial Gardens and Life from Death: On Taking My Children to the Cemetery

August 10, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 10 August 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, Yesterday, searching for a way to get my kids out of the house for a bit, I decided to take them on a walk to the local cemetery. It’s an old cemetery, by American standards. The oldest graves date back to the mid-nineteenth century. After our walk, I found out that a portion of the cemetery was purchased by the local Catholic parish, which happens to... Read more

The Earth, Our Mother, and the Amazonian Synod

August 6, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 6 August 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, First, like so many others, I am saddened to my core at the tragedies that have taken place in Dayton and El Paso. I see so many people saying things like we don’t need more laws, or we don’t have a gun problem, we have a sin problem. Of course, many of these same people would not say that about abortion, nor would they want to... Read more

Get Him to the Catholic Imagination Conference

August 4, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 4 September 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, First, allow me to apologize for my silence. I haven’t been blogging lately for two chief reasons: 1. I’ve been trying to work on some other projects before the school year begins. 2. I’ve been dealing with some nasty bouts of depression. Still, I’m sorry for the radio silence. Please know that I have some substantive content in the pipeline for this week, and please pray... Read more

The Magic of Language: Stephen Fry, Pedantry, and Racism

July 5, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 5 July 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, Recently I saw a short video from the BBC with the inimitable Stephen Fry. Fry, and his mellifluous voice, discussed language and pedantry. Essentially, Fry’s point was that we should not get caught up in the minutia of language, correcting the grammatical glitches we see in public, in the use of our friends, online, etc. Rather, says Fry, we should exult in language, take delight in... Read more

Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God and the Fortress Press Summer Sale

July 2, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 2 July 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, Fortress Press is currently having a summer sale with books as much as 70% off. And there are many worthy books for sale, including mine. So, if you’ve been intrigued by the title and snippets of content from Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God now is your chance to get a copy for $23.99 (I assume plus shipping, but hey, when it... Read more

Apologizing for Apologetics: Responding to the Recent Debates on Patheos Catholic

July 1, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 1 July 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, Recently it seems there has been something of a kerfuffle over the issue of apologetics here on Patheos Catholic. It all began when fellow Patheos Catholic author Dave Armstrong wrote a piece concerning illegal immigration. For any of my readers who somehow know who I am, but are unfamiliar with Armstrong, he is a lay Catholic apologist who has written many books, and much on various... Read more

Can You Imagine? Beginning a Definition of the Imagination with Lewis and Coleridge

June 30, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019 The Edge of Elfland Concord, New Hampshire Dearest Readers, There is a word often bandied about, especially in the Christian landscape these days that I’m not certain has been adequately defined. That word? Imagination. You might have seen it used with the modifier Catholic, or perhaps sacramental, or dialectic, or analytic. In nearly every case, the actual meaning of the word imagination goes largely undefined. Now, in a small space like this, I cannot... Read more

“Wherefore stopp’st thou me?” Coleridge’s Creative Message to the World

June 12, 2019 By David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time 12 June 2019 On the Edge of Elfland Manchester, NH Dearest Readers, “It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three.” So Coleridge begins his most famous, and perhaps his most important work. And like the one of three, I have been so stopped. Coleridge has been much on my mind of late, this poem not the least. Like the wedding guest who is stayed by the Mariner’s angelic version of the evil eye––the good eye,... Read more