Systems & Movements

by Tyler Dirks

There are amusement systems and adventure systems. White water rafting is an adventure system. Roller coasters are amusement systems. White water rafting calls for participation. Roller coasters call for passivity. White water rafting invites participants into risk, peril, failure, and joy. Roller coasters invite paying customers and season pass consumers to stand in line for […]

Best Book I’ve Listened to in 2025

by Tyler Dirks

“Everything Sad Is Untrue” by Daniel Nayeri Read it! Or listen to it! Read/listen to it because… It talks about sojourners/refugees, and it will put pressure on you to make decisions that are aligned with the emphasis and Spirit of Leviticus 19:9-10! It talks about bullying in school. It talks about bidets. It talks about […]

A Quote from Farrar Capon’s Culinary Reflection

by Tyler Dirks

“Let us pause and drink to that. To a radically, perpetually unnecessary world; to the restoration of astonishment to the heart and mystery to the mind; to wine, because it is a gift we never expected; to mushroom and artichoke, for they are incredible legacies; to improbable acids and high alcohols, since we would hardly […]

Bonhoeffer & Capon

by Tyler Dirks

“The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus. The greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does […]