Sharpening Iron - Volume 17, Issue 4

We know a man who ate all the gravy. All the gravy. All the gravy. He ate it with the lumps in. Lumps in. Bumps in. Humps in. He ate it with the lumps in, and now he's no friend of ours.

Gravy is serious business. Like a good worldview, all things should travel through it—beans, bread, bird, beef, give it to us thick and brown. Or tan, or beige, yea even taupe. All things on the plate—gravied. Jello, when present at all, can even have a slick superficial echo of this savory grace before squirting its sugary self around the tongue.

These, our words, and all that we are, strive for such loftiness. We would be gravy. Sop us with your roll.

From You:

CINDERELLA MAN
Dear Editor,
Brendan O'Donnell's review of Cinderella Man [C/A, 17.3] missed a key point. Not that the director ever saw it coming; but key nonetheless.

In the film's opening, Jimmy Braddock was a mediocre boxer able to feed his family on the strength of his left jab. His right hand was practically nonexistent.

When he broke his left hand and the stock market crashed causing him to lose everything, he was forced to take a job on the loading docks. While lifting heavy bags, he developed his right hand to the point that when he made it back into the ring, he was a complete boxer and ultimately won the world championship. That never could have happened without a right jab.

The point is this: Braddock had no way of knowing when he lost everything and watched his family suffer that God had a plan for his ultimate benefit. It is a picture of the Christian journey where we look at our momentary suffering as divine retribution for our numerous sins rather than the blessing God intends our suffering to bring about.

Editor's reply: You might have your hands mixed, but your point is spot on. Thanks.

BLUES AND HURRICANES
Dear Editor,
Greatly enjoyed Douglas Wilson's article on the Blues. I'm down in Mississippi for two weeks helping with the relief effort. There's a Delta Bluesman down here named Willie King. I bought his "Juking at Betty's" CD. It's Blues from a Christian worldview. Great stuff but I don't know if its available nationwide.

Also, Bob Dylan's blues song "Down in the Flood" is worth a listen. It was written in 1967 and is on his Greatest Hits Vol. 2. It's a story about a man pleading with his woman (his "best friend") to leave before the levee breaks. Some selected phrases "Crash on the levee, water's gonna overflow" and "pack up your suitcase, don't you make a sound" and also "this is the meanest flood anyone's ever seen."

SMALL ROUND STEAK
Dear Editor,
What can I say? Filet mignon for the Christian—thank you.

Editor's reply: Why the meat comparisons? Are we just objects to you all? We're feeling used.

GOOD ENEMIES
Dear Editor,
You have certainly been a blessing to my family and me. I know that you guys are taking a great many punches right now, but take heart. You are certainly on target with the type of enemies that you are making—at least, I admire you for the enemies you have made. Keep up the good work.

GETTING BETTER
Dear Editor,
You keep getting better. What a charge we get when a new issue arrives. We always dig right in (after pausing to absorb the latest cover), and then keep returning to it day after day like a big Christmas ham.

LEITHART BABBLES
Dear Editor,
I'm sorry to inform you that I can no longer support your publication. I find it promotes doctrine that is too far from the historic Christian faith. Some of what you are publishing is useful, but much of it, particularly the articles on baptism by Peter Leithart, is worthless babble.

I'm disappointed because you got off to a good start. Somewhere along the way you got off the path. I don't know where you're headed now.

DON'T HIT US
Dear Editor,
Please continue your good work and press on in your writing. We do, however, ask one favor: take it easy on the homeschoolers in your upcoming issue! There's a few of us on your side.

MORE FRIENDLINESS
Dear Editor,
Please keep those remarkable issues of your magazine coming.

Two of our daughterswho have "come of age" in the literary sense arerumaging through the cupboards, reading all our back issues, which cuts down on the fighting over the most recent issue.

Also, could you send issues to two of our friends who have shown an interest ever since we shared with them the article "Playing with Knives" [C/A, 16.3]. Keep up the good work and ignore the critics.

TWO THINGS
Dear Editor,
The "Blues" issue of Credenda left me asking some important questions.

Nathan D(ursley) Wilson: When did you become a lackey for Doug Phillips and start pushing his anti-Potter agenda?

Douglas (Muir) Wilson: Where does acid rain come from (and could a Trinitarian scientist spot it)?

MEAT AND POTATOES
Dear Editor,
My wife and I just read your article on Meat and Potato Blues. We just wanted to write and say thanks for the kind words and God bless!

From Us:

From You: