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AI vs. AI

2026-02-17T07:48:00.003-05:00

A case against AI so good.... that it was made by AI. But you’ll have to read the whole thing to see how I got it to tell me that. The part written by AI is cited at the end, and the rest is 100% home grown writer-to-screen certified organic (with only human editorial enhancements). At any rate, I hope you enjoy my account of clawing my way of away from Claude, being the first installment of Material Mysticism’s third year, entitled The Perfect Mirror: How I Broke AI (and how it almost broke me).

If you’d like, you can always subscribe here for future installments as well.

Transfigured Cuteness

2026-01-29T11:59:00.001-05:00

Here is a brief intro to my piece at Mockingbird on the Precious Moments Chapel (with some extra pics), and here is the piece itself. Enjoy!

All the Horrible Ideas of 2025

2025-12-28T16:15:00.001-05:00

Refuted at last, over at the Substack.

Reefer Madness

2025-12-16T08:48:00.004-05:00

Being the title to my end of year Substack which I think wraps things up quite well, and introduces the last Material Mysticism of 2025, On Christ and Coral. And here is the video for Miracles on Roosevelt Road.

Love Letter to Canada

2025-11-28T09:40:00.003-05:00

I was humbled (but not humbled enough to not let you know) by the chance to give the Larkin-Stuart lecture at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College last week. Inspired by John Ruskin (and guided by my geologist colleague Stephen Moshier) I tried to fuse art history and geology as Ruskin did (the Royal Ontario Museum is a few Carboniferous stone throws away). Here is one of my claims within the address to perhaps spur you (or enrage you enough) to watch: If we wish to celebrate the Indigenous wisdom of North America as Christians, we should be slow to discard the equally Indigenous Mediterranean wisdom of Plato as well, who was so much less “dualistic” than he is made out to be. But if you’ve read your Dionysius the Areopagite, you knew that.

Evangelicalism: A Love Story

2025-11-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

Here is this month's Material Mysticism. I have learned that length on the internet is the surest protection from dismissive abuse and willful misunderstanding. Antagonists tend to give up after 800 words.

New Book

2025-11-04T20:04:00.002-05:00

...and its marketing secrets fully disclosed, over at Substack.

A Hell of Mercy

2025-10-21T06:55:00.003-05:00

The October Material Mysticism is Salvation by Dread Alone, a descent into the maw of despair, with a teaser at Substack entitled The Contemplative Consummation of Atheism.

The Art of Revival

2025-09-28T14:21:00.004-05:00

We've learned a few things since the Nineties.

Decoy Enlightenment

2025-09-23T07:14:00.002-05:00

Being the September issue of Material Mysticism, and interview with the ever insightful Ashley Lande, with an introductory post at substack. Here, by the way, is a response to a question about Buddhism at Radiopaper.

Julian for Everyone

2025-08-19T06:52:00.004-05:00

Here is the August Material Mysticism, and here is some more background: Was Lady Julian Eastern Orthodox? The saints are always ahead.

Welcome to Chartres: Liberal Arts in the Age of AI

2025-08-15T16:30:00.003-05:00

Reports of the death of the liberal arts have been greatly exaggerated. Here is our orientation video for Wheaton this year. Let’s go!

Boundary Waters

2025-07-15T07:36:00.002-05:00

Being the July column at Material Mysticism, with some adjacent matters at the ol' substack.

Calling all Merton Haters

2025-06-17T05:18:00.007-05:00

Maybe you think nobody reads him. Maybe you claim to be "bored" with him. Maybe you've been deceived by less than careful biographies that claim he graduated from traditional morality or became Buddhist. But one of the reasons you might be bored with him is due to less than entirely helpful takes. He's no mascot for milquetoast Christianity, even if that's how he's been (quite literally) sold.

Ask yourself if these sentiments from his late journals don't register today:

I cannot help feeling a sense of decay in everything – I mean in the society I belong to and even in the Church, in the monastery. A much deeper and more serious sense, because there seems to be so little substance in the noisy agitation of progressives who claim to be renewing the Church and who are either riding some rather silly band-wagon or caught up in factional rivalries. As for the conservatives – they are utterly depressing in their tenacious clinging to meaningless symbols of dead power, their baroque inertia, their legalism. Disgust!

Now I'm just a suburban Anglican art historian. I'm not one of them there fancy Merton scholars. But I'm more than three decades into reading him now, and I'm telling you: I CAN WIN YOU BACK (in my June Material Mysticism column at Comment).

Elite

2025-06-16T18:36:00.004-05:00

For some reason this registered with some people. You just never know what'll land.

puffins and then some

2025-06-10T13:35:00.001-05:00

We know you have a choice about articles that parallel Evelyn Underhill with ornithology and we're glad you chose this one (the latest Material Mysticism that you can subscribe to for free here).

Also, with a Chicago pope (second city no more!), it’s a good time to catch up on your theology of the Midwest. The introduction to The Everlasting People was kindly published by Church Life Journal. All proceeds from this book go to support the Wade Center and you can purchase it here. More extended details on some upcoming writing and speaking can be found over at the ol' substack.

Bright Darkness & Guadalupe

2025-05-12T18:38:00.012-05:00

Some follow up thoughts on that subject over at Radiopaper thanks to some kind questions. "Christian darkness is a darkness shot through with Eucharistic light." Then some more on Guadalupe: "If Guadalupe is really about evangelization, we can’t leave out the need to evangelize historians." And theodicy, and the refreshing of an older post.

East by Southwest

2025-05-10T13:54:00.003-05:00

A freshening up of an older piece over on the substack.

The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art

2025-04-29T09:14:00.002-05:00

For the April Material Mysticism column, my interview with Jonathan Anderson regarding his bombshell of a book.

Holy Saturday

2025-04-19T17:59:00.005-05:00

A good day to think about this.

Our Lady of Chicago

2025-04-08T13:45:00.001-05:00

Now with original photographs!

Romania Revisited

2025-04-07T10:41:00.003-05:00

I have revised and re-posted an older article at substack with some new photographs.

Two Sermons

2025-03-24T10:44:00.003-05:00

One at John Brown University and the other at St. James Cathedral, Chicago.

The Mary Underground

2025-03-18T06:57:00.002-05:00

My article on global Marian underground sanctuaries at Comment is out from paywall today: a photographic negative of architectural history to offset limelight-sickened faith. The designers outdid themselves:

After the Heresy Hunt

2025-02-18T07:44:00.001-05:00

Here is my review of books by Cynthia Bourgeault... all of them (so far as I know). It's called The Wildest Christianity of All. Along the way I show how the notorious Bishop Spong accidentally embraced orthodox Christianity, and entertain (with caution) ways of assimilating G.I. Gurdjieff (of Enneagram fame) back into the church. Spoiler alert: I'm a traditional Christian, and so, I very much think, publisher marketing strategies notwithstanding, is she.