I’ve always had something of an ambivalent attitude towards John Updike. I’ve known his work for ages – he grew up in Shillington, PA, just a stone’s throw or so from where I grew up. He was raised a Lutheran, an upbringing that he seemed to struggle with as well as be marked by. I’ve loved his short stories as much as anything I’ve ever read, but sometimes been less than taken by even his celebrated novels. I don’t know why – perhaps they were too “earthy” for this kid. But it’s precisely the “earthiness” of “Seven Stanzas at Easter” that I love about...

It’s Holy Week, and so are thoughts are naturally drawn to Jesus’ cross and resurrection. We will listen to scenes from the Passion of our Lord read in church and meditate on our Lord’s suffering and all that it means for us. And on Sunday we will gather to hear, like the first disciples, the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Gathered together we will pray and sing and give thanks for all this means for us and, indeed, for the world. This is, to borrow the old words, “meet, right and salutary,” for as the Apostle Paul writes, the confession of Jesus’ death and resurrection is “of first importance,” that is, stands at the...