Posts

Let the Past Die: A Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Image
WARNING: Do not read this post until after you have seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi . If you haven't seen it, go away and come back later. Okay, have you seen it yet? Good. I know when you walked out of the theater you had one burning question: "What did Matt think?" Well, I'm glad you asked.

Christmas and Condescension

Image
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/ Bartolomé_Esteban_Perez_ Murillo_003.jpg/240px- Bartolomé_Esteban_Perez_ Murillo_003.jpg Don't you just hate it when people condescend to you? What if I told you that sometimes, it's okay to be condescending? And that God Himself condescends to us?

Charcoal-Infused Hands

Image
After telling you all about my explosive accident last month , I'd like to update everyone on the status of my recovery. I'm pleased to report that after three and a half weeks of being cooped up at home, with twice-daily bandage changes, I was cleared to return to work earlier this week.

Geeky Catholic Dad and the Exploding Switchgear

Image
This is the story of how I was hit by an explosion, and came out of it alive, with nothing more than some second degree burns.

As You Wish: What The Princess Bride Taught Me About Love

Image
No real relationship or marriage looks like Buttercup's and Westley's, right? Do fairy tale love stories give us unrealistic expectations? Or can we take a different sort of lesson from these depictions of love? I wrote a post last week - Have Fun Storming the Castle - about how the storytelling in The Princess Bride as a whole can shed some light on life and the afterlife. This week, I'd like to focus more specifically on Buttercup and Westley. Marriage "Mawwiage is what bwings us togevah today." Throughout the Bible, the relationship between a husband and wife is often used as a symbol - or "type" - of God's relationship with His people, and Christ's relationship with His Church. (Engraved on the inside of my wedding ring is the abbreviation "EPH 5:25," to remind me of the Bible verse from Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.") Ever s...

Have Fun Storming the Castle: What The Princess Bride Taught Me About Life

Image
Stories with happy endings aren't realistic. The real world doesn't work that way. So what value can a fairy tale like The Princess Bride possibly offer? A lot, actually. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

A Jedi, Like His Father Before Him

Image
There comes a time in a man's life where he starts seriously thinking about the future. He ceases to think only about his own wants and needs, and begins to consider more important things. Instead of worrying about trivial matters, like which Star Wars movie he's going to watch that night, he shifts his focus to other people. I remember this happening to me when I was in college. I asked myself a very important question: "How am I going to introduce Star Wars to my kids?" You laugh, but there are a myriad of issues to consider there. At what age is your youngling old enough to watch the films? Which film do you start with? Do you go in order of release, starting with the original? Or in chronological order, starting with The Phantom Menace ? (When I was in college, there were only two trilogies to think about, but now there is a new - and incomplete - trilogy being made, and stand-alone films coming out in between the saga films.) What if you're too forceful (n...