“The Weekend Wanderer” is a weekly curated selection of news, stories, resources, and media on the intersection of faith and culture for you to explore through your weekend. Wander through these links however you like and in any order you like.

“5 rules for better conversations around your Thanksgiving table” – Even though our Thanksgiving the holiday has passed, and even though our Thanksgiving gatherings may have looked a little different this year, these five rules for better conversation from Justin Brierley are worth considering. In fact, they might just be good rules for better conversations with people in general.

“How Grat­i­tude Breaks the Chains of Resentment” – Every once in awhile I share resources that are not new but are still worth reading. Here is an article from Henri Nouwen on gratitude that was written many years ago but may still be helpful and pertinent to us. In this time when it seems so difficult to give thanks, when our lives have been reduced and changed in more ways than we want to mention, may we learn to move toward God in gratitude instead of living in resentment.

“Muslims Join Evangelical Theology Conference” – “The trimmed-down 72nd annual conference of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), held virtually this week, usually welcomes up to 2,000 top scholars to present on the most salient issues facing evangelical scholarship. This year’s theme: Islam and Christianity. ‘We are called to truth, and to understanding the world around us more accurately and thoughtfully,’ said [Al] Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), who also served as ETS program chair. ‘That certainly includes our understanding of Islam, which has from the beginning represented an enormous challenge to Christian evangelism, apologetics, theology, and cultural engagement.'”

“‘A Small Good Thing’ An Interview with John Wilson” – John Wilson’s tenure as editor for the now defunct Books and Culture was wonderful. When that publication shut down it was a great loss. Wilson had a curiosity-sparked meandering sort of way of drawing together various interests into one place. He continues to write for First Things, The Englewood Review of Books, and now begins a new run as Senior Editor for The Marginalia Review of Books. Here is a little interview with Wilson by Samuel Loncar that touches on the old days of Books and Culture, as well as Wilson’s more recent endeavors.

“Gospel of the Trees” – Alan Jacobs writes about one of his older projects that has recently gone through a major redesign and upgrade. I encourage you to take a look at it: “Ten years ago my friend Brad Cathey — a designer and the head of Highgate Creative — and I built a website called Gospel of the Trees. Here’s what it’s about: ‘The Bible is a story about trees. It begins, or nearly enough, with two trees in a garden: the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The pivotal event in the book comes when a man named Jesus is hanged on a tree. And the last chapter of the last book features a remade Jerusalem: ‘In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” If you understand the trees, you understand the story.’ Brad has just redesigned the entire site, and the work he has done is fantastic.”

Music: Liturgical Folk (featuring Audrey Assad), “Our Lady Sings Magnificat,” from Advent

[I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within the articles linked from this page, but I have read them myself in order to make me think more deeply.]