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The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Alberta is writing from within evangelicalism, seeking to heal the divisions that are mounting. While he exposes faults, the goal is to fix them, and that tempers his approach. The audience is therefore insiders who also want to heal by acknowledging wrongs, repenting, and moving on. Now there are some explanations that go beyond that, explanations of Christianity that the audience I’ve cited would already know. I can see two reasons for that. Authors write also for a secondary audience, who may pick up a book. Can’t let a chance to explain the gospel go by. Also those explanations of the gospel would give Alberta credentials among the insider audience, showing he is one of them, after all.

Of the three sections of the book, the first, “The Kingdom” is the best articulated and differentiated. Alberta points out the difference between Christ’s kingdom, “not of this world” and current politics, saying that the latter have no place in the church. He points out the idolatry of substituting America for the spiritual kingdom. The next two sections (“The Power” and “The Glory”) are not so well differentiated. They seem to be more about power, though in the latter there are occasional brief references to self glory or glory for a church vs. God’s glory. The problem with the pursuit of power is that it prompts an ends-justify-the-means mentality.

Early in the book, each chapter is a case study of a particular church. Later the chapters start in a place, but become more thematically arranged with a lot of comparison made of groups mentioned earlier along with new ones, each chapter not always about one place, but a movement. Two images stick with me. One from an early vignette where a parishioner complains to their pastor that he isn’t interpreting the Bible through the lens of the constitution. The other is Alberta’s reminder that God isn’t up there biting God’s fingernails.

However, 400 pages of examples of churches missing the mark makes for tiresome reading beyond the middle. While there is some need for cumulative example to clinch a point, it seems excessive. There is some relief in that each section also has examples of churches and ministers trying to counter the trend.

Of course Alberta’s version of solution works only for those with a view of a goal-driven history. To historians who see no end as inevitable, who see choice at each step, there is no comfort here.



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Fox Finished

At last the Rippin’ Robins project is finished. I was filling out the form to enter it in the local guild show and needed a name. Hadn’t yet thought of a name for this one. On the spot I decided “fox” had to be in the name and “Fox Trot” was the first phrase that came to me, so that’s its name.

It measures 52 x 72. I’d allowed for quilting to take up some measurement, but it didn’t change it. That surprised me enough to wonder if I had measured it wrong.

This photo doesn’t show the blue quilting well so here’s another two shots, front corner and back.

And because it is hard to see the white square in the middle right, here is a detail view.

I’ve always liked shadow blocks in quilting, and this is the first time I’ve tried it. I could have done the hourglass squares differently to get a better Ohio Star effect, maybe next time. In the other two white spaces I was less elaborate: squares extending the Jacob’s Ladder at the top and Flying Geese at the bottom.

Quilt history:

Beginning

Block Choses and Group Progress

Extra Blocks

Layout

Top Finished

A Little Mythbusting

Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth by Bryan Burrough

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


First, I should perhaps admit a bias in favor of mythbusting on any topic. Second, I found this book a delightful item in the genre. It begins with a history of what is known to have occurred at the Alamo and in Texan and Mexican politics preceding that battle, alluding to bits of myth that are therein contradicted. Understanding of the times has been expanded by diaries and other writings of non-Anglo participants. Next comes a history of the creation of the myths and their perpetuation, which is followed by the history of attempts to correct the record and the predictable backlash. The clash is told up to its status at the time of writing, and as you might imagine, is still unresolved. There is a brief chapter on a collection of artifacts related to the Alamo and problems establishing their provenance, which adds to the whole busting project.

Though the subject was serious–footnotes and endnotes abound–the treatment was light, even humorous at times. Now it was easy reading for me, who had nothing invested in the myths; it might be more difficult for someone committed to them.



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“Center Cannot Hold” (Purple and Gold) Finished

Quilted, bound, labeled, and with hanging sleeve attached. The quilting was a challenge because instead of the easy way–clockwise, moving center to outer–I needed to quilt counterclockwise, which kept forcing more and more under the 9-inch Featherweight harp. I’ll try to remember that the next time I design a top! Other than wrestling with the bulk of it, I did two lines that ended up loopy on the back. Luckily they were shorter lines! I had inserted a new bobbin and it was okay for a line. Something happened, who knows what. I rethreaded the bobbin case and all was then well. I don’t really care what went wrong so long as it is an easy fix. I had more problems with the binding than usual, mostly operator error, but I won’t whine about them.

This was the original plan.

But I walked around the bed and decided I liked it better this way.

Luckily I hadn’t sewn the hanging sleeve in with the binding and could change the orientation. It measures 45 ” x 45 .”

Quilt History

Beginning

October progress

November progress

Flimsy

Rippin Robin Top

I was looking forward to getting back to posting from my computer instead of my phone, but the editor didn’t open on my new computer. Sigh. I hope I don’t have to buy Jetpack to work from the computer.

Anyway the top is together except for the final border and I’ve looked at it long enough to be sure it is what I want to do.

I’d been debating whether to leave it at 40 X 60 and let the dark blue binding finish it or this border. At first I had placed the blue only in the upper right corner and it looked too dark. So I added more to get a better idea of the look. Overall I don’t think it too dark. And besides, I really wanted the larger size.

If I have enough of the cream I’ll use it for backing; if not I’ll think about what to add to make enough.

Oh, the quilt now has a name. In honor of the fox blocks, I’ll call it Fox Trot.

Serendipity

Sometimes I read a book at just the right time, like reading David Quammen’s Breathless right before an article appears with a new argument for the lab origin of Covid.

Quite a while back I had heard Quammen speak at a Powell’s book event and been impressed with both his story telling and his knowledge. I put the book on my indefinite reading list. A few months ago I read an article on lab origin and while their conclusion was clear, I hadn’t understood the finer support. I moved the book that Quammen had said favored the nature-spillover theory to a more immediate position and recently got it from the library. I was well into it when the second lab-origin article came to my attention. This time I recognized scientists and understood the issues. Serendipity.

The book reads rather like a detective story, albeit one with scientific sections that, for me, took more than one reading to follow, but follow I could. I remember the frenzy of new information, retracted information, seemingly conflicting information as theses were made public sooner than the usual waiting for peer review. Quammen gives clarity to that welter. Plus he gives background of preparation science from earlier novel disease research that paved the way for understanding this new challenge.

I found his arguments convincing and appreciated his respect for scientists who differed.

Layout Plan

I got out the Rippin Robins blocks. Idea 1 was to tip them a bit—not on point, not square in a square. I laid them out to see if i needed more blocks.

I thought I might need more 3 X 3 blocks but decided to add the triangles then lay out again. So I drafted the triangles. But before I cut any fabric , I got another idea.

I’m going with this one. The layout is 40 x 60. I may border it to make 50 x 70. Either size is useful.

Purple and Gold Flimsy

I left off here with a border plan. However, when I got back to the project and checked on remaining fabric, the idea became unworkable. Not enough red-violet.

My next thought was a 3-inch purple border, and the question was, With or without the dots and dashes. I laid it out, one leg with and one without.

I wasn’t considering the half-inch dots, but they gave the idea of a narrow pieced border (and were available). It just happened that the purple I was auditioning was wide. Looking at it, I saw that wide looked good. But even without laying it out, I could see wide wouldn’t look good on the purple half. I let it sit a bit while I did something else, occasionally glancing at it and thinking. It finally dawned on me that it looked finished and the last purple pattern rows sorta doubled as border. It also provided a relatively easy way to place the “straying ” hexagons. So I stitched it up, and now I have a flimsy.

Carrying the title idea further, maybe the empty borders are places where hexagons have already fled, emphasizing that The Center Cannot Hold. I’m thinking quilting designs now. Leaning toward concentric circles in gold thread.

Prints Will Work

You will remember my excitement at this post.

Now I have a huge supply of cut 1 1/2-inch squares, but they are mostly prints.

And a moderate supply of 3-inch squares. Also mostly prints.

So of course I wondered how it would work with prints–even the white background.

I made a test block.

I think it will work. I’ll have to be careful to keep the mixed light background pieces that light. And I think I’ll not sew the four together until I have a bunch and can lay them out. I think it might be difficult to control the four meeting triangles if I sew them in groups of four before I check combinations. And control the mix of prints is something I would want to do. Not a problem when working with all solids.

This will be a leader/ender project, and the pieces are tiny. So it will be a long time before you see any progress.

Gingerbread

It’s been a few years since I went to see the seasonal gingerbread creation at the Benson. But I got there this year. Chef Diffendorf did a stunning job, as usual.

Here is the castle it is modeled from.

And here’s a detailed view.

Ingredients listed include 150 pounds of housemade gingerbread, 50 pounds of chocolate, and 10 pounds of rice crispy treats.

Here’s the chef’s website with links to other year’s creations. https://www.gingerbreadcities.com/