Art for Wonder’s Sake
Fine art has a way of drawing us into life’s joyful mysteries. But like some literary poetry, it can leave us clueless as to what is really going on. A primer in “How to view art: Be dead serious about it, but don’t expect too much” offers some practical advice to those of us who rush through museums, often mystified.
The Beauty of Patterns
A couple of issues ago we remembered Earthrise, that famous picture of the earth snapped on Apollo 8. Here are more images of earth from space, taken by astronaut Chris Hadfield during his last few months up there.
And We Mean “Loud”
Here’s a history/science piece about “The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times.” It’s about the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. It brings to mind Scriptures such as “The LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire” (Isa. 29:6).
Russia in Scale
This issue’s long read is actually a long watch—and well worth it. It’s on the “Largest model railway of Russia.” It’s not just that it is large; there are larger model railway installations. It’s also an attempt to recreate a miniature Russia. The artistry, technology, perseverance, and general creativity of the people involved—they make one appreciate Dorothy Sayers’s insight that the way we live out the image of God is by doing what he did and does: create worlds of our own, and worlds within worlds.
