I have compiled a list of things to say and not to say to a mathematician while making small-talk. (This list is especially relevant to graduate students in math.) Good: So, what are you researching? Bad: Do you have an adviser picked out yet? In the event that the mathematician you’re talking to is […]
Community, Needs, and the Everyday Stuff of Life
My Community Group (CG) has a hard time sharing needs with one another. It’s not the worst problem a CG could have. To be fair, we’re very prone to share prayer needs with one another. But physical or material needs – that’s a different subject. We tend to squirm at the idea of asking other people to be […]
Speech, a psalm.
Who is like the LORD, our God? Without tongue, he speaks; having no mouth, he pronounces judgment. The idols of the nations are mute; silent, they neither profit nor deliver. Selah. The beasts of the field make sound, a joyful noise to the LORD. To man you have given speech, but with their tongue they […]
On being a TA
I went to my first discussion section of Mathematics for the Biological Sciences as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at 2:30 PM on August 16th, 2016. I don’t remember it much. Perhaps I took attendance for that one time, had students do introductions, maybe gave a cursory preview of some of the upcoming material, and then […]
The Day of the Son
An exegetical commentary on Mark 13 in honor of W. Tyler Reynolds
The Quiltmaker
The women in my family have always had a penchant for doing craftwork… Aunt Julie was next level.
The Vulgarity of God, Part 2: Food and Drink
A few weeks ago, drawing on some inspiration from C.S. Lewis, I began by stating what I meant by “The Vulgarity of God”. By way of reminder, I defined God’s “vulgarity” as his “lavish, unblushing, and almost excessive provisions of joy for the human being, especially as expressed in the created order (though not limited thereto)”.1 […]
Pure vs. Applied
“So, what’s the difference between pure math and applied math?”
The Vulgarity of God, Part 1: Introduction
One of the most helpful quotes I’ve ever read from any work of C.S. Lewis comes from The Screwtape Letters1: He’s a hedonist at heart. All those fasts and vigils and stakes and crosses are only a façade. Or only like foam on the sea shore. Out at sea, out in His sea, there is […]
Concerning Qualifying Exams
Let’s just get this all out on the table. Yes, I’m staying in Iowa City for the summer and doing math the whole time, but to what purpose? Two words: Qualifying Exams. It seems that few people outside of academia understand what I mean by “Qualifying Exams” (or “quals” for short), so hopefully this entry will […]
In the Fields 