Ear, Hand, Foot
Intro
This is Time's Corner, a weekly newsletter by Christian Leithart. I’m co-founder of Little Word, editor of Good Work magazine, and creator of Psalm Tap, a yearly colloquium for church musicians. By day, I teach, and by night, I edit this newsletter.
Ear, Hand, Foot
Back in balmy May, I introduced you to my newest venture, a children’s publishing company called Little Word. Today I’m pleased to share the cover for our first book, written by me and illustrated by the talented and hardworking Najah Forehand.
Ear, Hand, Foot uses the priestly ordination rite found in Leviticus 14 to summarize the whole story of the Bible from the Garden to the Church. If your reaction is “huh?” you’re not the only one. Hardly anyone who’s not familiar with the work of Theopolis or Jim Jordan has a mental category for this kind of thing. But that’s what makes Little Word so exciting. Once people read the book, they will have a mental category, and they can share it with their kids. Bizarre Levitical practices like putting blood on a priest’s earlobe, thumb, and big toe suddenly have a place in the overarching story of the Bible. And that’s just the beginning. We’ve got more books on the way.
If you’re not already subscribed the Little Word newsletter, do so. We’ll let you know as soon as the book is available for pre-order.
Plus, you’ll get a sneak-peek of our second book. I wish I could tell you all about that one, too, but you’ll just have to wait. Here’s a hint: it has to do with animals.
Dispatch from Broken Bow
Mask on, but goggle-less, I pump the half-gallon spray bottle and mist the ceiling until it’s just shy of dripping. I press a flat blade ten inches wide flat against the surface and push it forward until a long, wet strip drops to the floor. It’s my first time removing a popcorn ceiling, and it’s turned out to be a far dirtier job than I thought. I’ll send pics.
Links
I still do blog occasionally.
Right now my favorite app (not new, but new to me) is NetNewsWire. It’s a simple RRS reader, so it ought to be nothing special, but I love opening it (on my laptop or my phone). I can’t yet put my finger on why. Perhaps it’s because I’ve gotten much better at curating my feeds to suit my taste. For example, I realized that I like to subscribe to blogs and newsletters written by individuals, rather than group efforts like LitHub or IndieWire. Both of those sites are fine, but their RSS feeds quickly get overwhelming. I’m also much more willing to delete feeds that have ceased to interest me, something I never did in the age of Feedly. Three cheers for grumpy old age.
Upcoming
Immanuel Reformed Church, a plant of Trinity Presbyterian here in Birmingham, will have our first Sunday service on September 10th. If you’re local, consider joining us. We meet at Seeds Coffee Company in Homewood.
I’m directing my school’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, which has a two-night run September 21-22. Wilde’s tagline for the play is “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,” which a pretty apt summary of our production, too. You can buy tickets here.
Little Word will be at the CREC Council in Moscow, Idaho, September 25-28. If you’re in town, swing by our booth and say hello.
Up To
Reading: Hold On to Your Kids, a book about the dangers of “peer-orientation.” When kids take their cues from their peers instead of their parents, the results are severely harmful.
Watching: Revisited The Incredibles for family movie night.
Listening: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Brontë.
About
I’m Christian Leithart, a writer and teacher living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m not active on social media, but you can read my blog here. Use the button below to share this issue of Time’s Corner, if you so desire. Thanks much for reading.