by Brian Allred “A plague on both your houses.” So spoke the dying Mercutio about both the Montagues and Capulets in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The phrase can rightly be understood as an imprecation. An imprecation, from the Latin imprecatio, is a prayer invoking disaster or judgment upon an enemy or wrongdoer. Long before … Continue reading “O That You Would Slay the Wicked, O God”: Wrestling with the Imprecatory Psalms
Category: Essays & Articles
This is where longer format writing will find its home…eventually.
by Brian Allred Certain things are really hard to do. Try saying “eleven benevolent elephants” five times fast. I imagine riding a unicycle is pretty hard. Personally, I find it extremely difficult to hit a golf ball – at least long and straight. Some other things are virtually impossible for us to do like tying … Continue reading Loving Our Enemies
God of Wonder: Some Reflections on Thanksgiving by Brian Allred “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” – G. K. Chesterton Read Full Article here Taking Stock The air is chill now. The leaves are almost gone. This season moves in me, haunts me. When I lived … Continue reading Thanksgiving 2025
By Brian Allred It’s easy to get sucked into the drama of an epic showdown. You can think old school like Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader in Star Wars, or Rocky Balboa squaring off against Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (or perhaps you prefer his bout against Clubber Lang in Rocky III). More recently, there’s … Continue reading The Pain of Nain and the Hope of Easter
by Brian Allred Broken cities, broken schools, broken laws, broken bodies, broken bones, broken vows, broken marriages, broken homes, broken dreams, broken spirits, broken hearts. To quote the title of a 1989 Bob Dylan song: everything is broken [1]. Does that capture how you feel sometimes? Even if you’re a bit more of an optimist … Continue reading Fixing What’s Broken: Insights from Isaiah 59
or...When Our Own Sin Startles Us Sin doesn't always have the effect that it should. Sometimes our callous hearts are oblivious to our transgressions and we go on with our day, impenitent. This is especially true in our sins of omission versus our sins of commission—that is, when we don't do what we should rather … Continue reading To the Delta Fan in Front of Me at the Delaware County Boys Basketball Tourney
The God We Hardly Knew by William Willimon (copyright 2001 The Plough Publishing House) Probably most of us have had the experience of receiving, right out of the blue, a gift from someone we really don’t know all that well. And, perhaps, to our consternation, the gift turns out to be nice, something that we … Continue reading Christmas Meditation