Contributor

Tex

Tex

The Dying Christian to His Soul

Vital spark of heav’nly flame! Quit, O quit this mortal frame: Trembling, hoping, ling’ring, flying, O the pain, the bliss of dying! Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife, And let me languish into life. Hark! they whisper; angels say, Sister […]

TexUncategorized

The Rebel and the Cause

Our parents and grandparents had Patton and MacArthur; we got stuck with McChrystal, although, if you believe everything that Rolling Stone writer Michael Hastings says, McChrystal is the real deal—

Tex

St. George, Patron of Tolerance?

St. George is an unlikely candidate for “saint most likely to promote tolerance and ecumenical understanding” these days.  The legendary soldier is most often pictured astride a gallant warhorse, nobly piercing a large dragon with his lance or spear while […]

TexPoliticsEthicsAnthropologyPhilosophySociologyembodimentWar/International RelationsLiberal ArtsSocial TrendsTheology and PracticeSociety

Carrying the Fallen

Three American flags draped the coffins lying on the cargo floor of my C-17.  It was only three hours earlier that I had received a phone call informing me

Tex

Reading the Hymns: Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

I have so enjoyed Matt’s weekly postings of hymnodic reflections that I’ve jumped at the opportunity to continue the series during his absence.  This week’s hymn, another of the four most popular Anglican hymns, is often sung in the days […]

Tex

Evesdropping at the National Gallery of Art

A recent visit to the National Gallery of Art in D.C. afforded me the opportunity to view some of the most striking and important paintings in the world, as well as an opportunity to eavesdrop and people-watch.  Some die-hard aesthetes […]

TexLiterature

The same old New World?

Since the discovery of the American continent, Europeans saw the land I call home as the objectification of Nature, good and bad.  Coming to a relatively unpopulated region, the European

TexPro-LifeEconomics and Business

The (Economic?) Case for Babies

I’m in the market for babies and, based on the research, it’s prime time to be having them.  Happily married, financially stable, and with a happiness quotient that

Tex

Guest Voices: Rebecca Elizabeth

This summer seems to be the summer of guest voices at MereO.  Either we are going through a major identity crisis and are desperately reaching for others to bring us a voice and thesis that we can’t find ourselves…or, we’ve […]

TexUncategorized

Hijabistas: A Lesson in Cultural Activism

I happened to run across a “human interest” piece at the BBC today with a title bound to attract a high number of curious in-clicks: “Muslim designers mix hijab

TexPoetryLiberal Arts

Italian Sonnet

I AM, the holy smoking fire, Burns bright on Sinai's awful height; And tremors from His words of might Split wide the earth and shake the pyre Where

Tex

Indivisible Harmony

I’ve been reading a (sort-of) autobiography of the Guarneri String Quartet.  Sort-of because, as author Arnold Steinhardt points out, one can’t really write an autobiography of a four-man entity.  He shares the hilarious and awkward moments in the history of […]