One of my dad’s most meaningful compliments to me is that I am my family’s most enthusiastic eater. This doesn’t conjure up the loveliest of images; in fact, I think he said it to me when I was inhaling some fried chicken around age 10. His words delighted me, however, because they showed that my dad really knew me. He saw something that always has been and will be fundamental to my personality: a love for food.
Read moreCommunity at Covenant
Maybe community isn’t what brought you to Covenant, but everyone at one point or another has heard about the community here. It’s something that everyone loves, the tight-knit family we have on this mountain. As fellow believers we have an amazing opportunity to cultivate a godly, sincere, honest, and loving community, but this is not going to happen all by itself.
Read moreHoliness for a Laugh?
I love to laugh. The students in Mac often tease me by saying that hearing me shout “girl on the hall” is rather superfluous as you can usually hear my laughter from a few floors away. Thus it comes as no surprise that attending and advocating for Covenant’s improv shows is one of my greatest joys. However, this past Tuesday night I found myself uncharacteristically quiet.
Read moreGlobal Warming
After all the icy weather we’ve had, the mention of global warming probably makes people roll their eyes. Bear with me, global warming is more than wishing for warmer weather. Understanding global warming takes patience, just as seeing its effects is a long term process.
Read more10 Things We Wish We Knew at Covenant
After reading about the tragic conflagration* that destroyed our former home (Andreas 213) and drinking a few beers, we decided it would be a fitting occasion to author our first ever Bagpipe article. The three of us have transitioned to other educational institutions (Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Washington University School of Medicine), but retain a deep fondness for the Castle in the Clouds. Below you will find ten things we wish we had known during our years on Lookout Mountain.
Read moreOne Way of Thinking About Human Sexuality
Like other Christians, I have had to think through the bewildering flood of ideas about gender and sexuality that our culture has been generating in the past few years. It's been confusing and difficult. Some of the things I've said about human sexuality in the past no longer seem adequate to me. Many of the things I've heard other people say seem unbiblical and troubling. But I think I'm ready to express some of my opinions with a modicum of clarity.
Read moreGender Inequality in the Music Industry
Recently, the Icelandic artist Björk made a stir when she suddenly released her album Vulnicura almost two months early. The album was received positively by critics and fans alike, quickly shooting to the number one spot on iTunes and debuting in the Billboard top 20. Björk is not only making an impact with her music, she is using her album as a platform to discuss problems that she sees with the modern music industry.
Read moreFollow Up to Sufjan
Hey Sufjan,
It’s me, the girl with the curly hair and the tortoise-shell glasses that I lost a month after meeting you.
Read moreThird-Wheeling
In my room hangs a poster advertising an end of the world party. It was strewn with Mayan puns, a ping pong tournament, and there was a band no one knew about. I found it in a restaurant and pub on the uneventful 21st of December, 2012. It hangs (and usually falls) with pride in my room. It represents a very fun night of great food, lots of laughing, and my horrifying attempt at learning how to ice skate. On this night, I also happened to be a third wheel.
Read moreAn Open Apology to Sufjan Stevens
Dear Sufjan Stevens,
I hope you don’t remember me because that would mean one of several things. Either a) that I didn’t actually bother you by sweatily interrupting your conversation with that tall man in the camel jacket, or b) that I did bother you by deciding we should meet, but that you’re also a terribly forgiving person who is sympathetic to all the twenty-something Anglo-Saxon, Protestant dudes who think you’re a big effing deal, or c) that you’re forgetful, which works because then, hey—no harm no foul.
Read moreA Realistic View of American Sniper
Clint Eastwood’s new cinematic work, American Sniper, is a work of glorified patriotism. In last week’s edition of The Bagpipe, Mr. Jantomaso even described it as “awe-inspiring.” From my perspective, Mr. Eastwood seems to have picked up the torch from Kathryn Bigelow, director of the 2013 Academy Awards flop Zero Dark Thirty. Just like Bigelow, Eastwood has found a way to shimmy into several Oscar nominations by feeding Americans the narcissistic justification they need in order to feel cozy about our government’s actions abroad.
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Presidential Race Republican Candidates
Whether you like it or not, the 2016 presidential election is underway. As President Obama begins the last two years of his presidency, the field of would-be candidates eagerly jockey to replace him. What begins now, a year before primary voters cast their votes, is the “invisible primary,” where potential candidates work feverishly behind the scenes to court donors, create campaign apparatuses, and boost their name recognition and policy credentials. While many see Hillary Clinton’s nomination for the Democratic Party as inevitable, the Republican field is anybody’s guess.
Read morePreaching is Not a Postlude to Worship
I can’t take credit for the title of this article. It’s actually a little nugget I read on Chris Larson’s Twitter feed a couple of years ago, and I’ve thought of it a lot since the first time I read it. His words,”Preaching is not a postlude to worship,” present clearly an idea that I think is applicable to the Church and, more specifically, the way we approach chapel.
Read moreKnife Wounds
Ever since a notorious incident involving a serpent and some infamous fruit, sin has been a pervasive and destructive influence in both our world and individual lives. This original sin broke the world, and all people to come after Adam and Eve have been born tainted by it. But the good news for sinners is this: Christ died for us and the stain of sin is removed. However, to leave the past sentence as it is would be a limited presentation of the Gospel.
Read moreDefine Submission
Earlier this week a friend started reading to me an article entitled “10 Women Christian Men Should Not Marry.” I became more and more incredulous as the article condemned marrying older women and even said God created [woman] to be subject and obedient to her husband. And then he gave justification for why he was saying that woman was created for man and I was stopped in my tracks. He cited the Bible itself, specifically 1 Corinthians 11:8-9: “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” A sentence that I had thought was just another ignorant statement from a misguided sexist was actually a Bible verse. This bothered me, and I didn’t know what to do with it. In fact, I am still struggling through understanding this verse and others like it.
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