Joshua enjoys a good story. From the Inklings, to the Beat Poets, to This American Life, the power of narrative connects humanity. Like a good story, Joshua’s years of adventure, struggle, reflection, and questioning have led him to Sojourners. After spending four years at Greenville College (greater St. Louis area) studying English and religion, and serving as Editor-in-Chief of his college newspaper, he comes to DC seeking to be read anew into God’s story of love, justice, and redemption for the entire created order. He is excited to participate in communal life and work towards goals that are continually broadening and making a profound impact on individuals and the larger society.
Follow Joshua at www.jwitchger.wordpress.com
Posts By This Author
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: April 16, 2012
With tax day approaching, read about some of the more bizzaire tax laws. X-ray images of deep sea creatures. House pets meet their mirror images in plush form. Flying car to visit International Auto Show. Explaining the smell of old books. Garth and Kat sing into springtime ... Discover these and more links in today's Links of Awesomeness ...
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: April 13, 2012
Stream Coachella this weekend in YouTube, 17 musicians inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, playable Star Wars organ, signs of the apocalypse, art installations, and LOST as a sitcom. See this and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: April 12, 2012
Four Square image via Wylio/Creative Commons. (c) Andrew Yee
Infographics on chimpanzees -- the Titanitc -- outer space -- zombie survival -- fictional birthdays. Plus, an NYU listserve experiment, thoughts from Radiolab's Robert Krulwich, Wes Anderson's newest film, and getting ready for April 16 (4/16, Four Square Day). See this and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: April 11, 2012
Jon Stewart compares Easter and Passover, The Lion King surpasses The Phantom of the Opera in sales, Central Africa's only all-black symphony gaining attention, Rube Goldberg machine sets new world record, electronic music made from fruits, a fish delivers a TED talk, Webby Award nominees announced, local Chicago music, The Hipster Games, the joys of a nine-year-old's cardboard arcade, and a dramatic twist of events on a quiet square... See this and more on today's Links of Awesomeness...
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: April 9, 2012
30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month, after Easter take a look at some of the sketchiest bunnies, post-apocalyptic artwork, Alec Baldwin interviews Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon revisits his news anchor position, "Walden Pond" to become a digital reality, robots make furniture, and 36 big names in their humble beginnings...
Anthropology of Communion with God
Praying image via Shutterstock
The image of an actively communicating God resonates with many people that T.M. Luhrmann interacted with on her anthropological study at a Vineyard Church in Chicago, and which is accounted in her new book When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God.
Today she tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross that as an anthropologist, she doesn’t feel qualified to say when God is or isn’t speaking to people, but that “[she] can say something about the social, cultural and psychological features of what that person is experiencing.”
In the NPR piece, she talks about the fascinating ways American evangelicals experience God.
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: April 5, 2012
Google Street view goes to inside the White House. Painting walls by whipping hair. President Obama gives the Vulcan salute in the Oval Office. Woody Allen's new film. Marshall amplifiers. The Beatles' sons. And a remix of the Pixar film Monsters Inc.
Holy is the Sound
There's much to contemplate this Holy Week, from Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Many artists have traveled this path, creating sonic accompaniment for the varied emotions evoked during this sacred week.
Here are a few tracks that move us, and that we’ll have in heavy rotation throughout until Easter Sunday and beyond, including one of the more unusual Resurrection Day songs you've likely ever heard from the Yeshu Bakhti band Aradhna, pictured at right.
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: Video Edition
All videos on today's Links of Awesomeness. Watch a legless skateboarder show some incredible tricks at a contest in Tampa. OK Go debuts a new colorful music video, Improv Everywhere shows some impressive video editing, Jimmy Fallon and Charlie Sheen advertise a new cologne, and Admiral Ackbar becomes a singing wall fish.
A Family's Identity Crisis
Pariah, written and directed by Dee Rees. Focus Features.
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: March 30, 2012
ART LINKS: statues made from paper money, aging architecture beautified by folded paper, art shots of abandon pianos, and portraits on weathered envelopes. Plus Paul McCartney, bizarre musical instruments, and Downtown Arby's. Click to read today's Links of Awesomeness...
Denison Witmer Video Premiere: More on Truth, Music, and Beauty
Last month I had the privilege of interviewing Denison Witmer as he passed through Washington, D.C. in support of his newest album The Ones Who Wait.
This week, Witmer’s manager was kind enough to send us some additional videos from Denison's tour as he returned home to play before friends and family at the World Café in Philadelphia. The audio and video are top notch; and in the spirit of creating a space for truth and beauty, we’re premiering three new videos for you to enjoy.
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: March 29, 2012
Nothing quite welcomes the spring-time like a Girl Scout cookie milkshake. In Washington D.C. Batman is making his rounds to childrens hospitals, and the Supreme Court is debating where to order take out from. Yesterday, Will Ferrell announced a sequal to Anchorman on Conan, and Earl Scruggs is remembered for popularizing the finger-picked banjo. Musical instruments are made out of jelly, Chicago travelers enjoy beer on the train, Law and Order's Christopher Meloni is the "Kony Hunter," and more... Click to read today's Links of Awesomeness...
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: March 28, 2012
A surname map of the United States, the uproar over Michael Bay's remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the world's first 3 rpm music record, Spirograph inspired art, lessons from game Oregon Trail, and ordering pizza from a refrigerator magnet. Continue reading today's Links of Awesomeness for these and other links...
New Poll: Religion Still Affects Politics
Flag Map image via Shutterstock
The more church you attend, the more likely you are to vote Republican. That's one of the findings from Gallup’s comprehensive study on U.S. states and their religious commitments (or lack thereof). And the data they account seems consistent with our current political climate.
According to Gallup’s “state of the states,” 40 percent of Americans are “very religious,” meaning they attend a service almost every week and believe religion is important to daily life. On the flip side, 32 percent are “nonreligious,” they don’t attend services regularly and don’t believe religion is important to daily life. The remaining 28 percent are “moderately religious,” they may believe religion is important but do not attend services themselves, or they may attend services but think it unimportant to daily life.
SCOTUS: Voices form the Healthcare Debate
Protestors march outside the Supreme Court as oral arguments are heard inside. Parker Haaga/Sojourners
People lined the steps of the Supreme Court once again today, asking for their voices to be heard on the ongoing healthcare debate. Justices on Monday began their three-day review of President Barack Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act, which would require U.S. citizens to purchase health insurance or face a penalty.
Thousands gathered starting on Friday for a ticket inside for oral arguments and to stand outside the court in protest, both for and against the plan.
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: March 27, 2012
The Seattle Space Needle is transformed into an Angry Birds slingshot, horror characters imagined in their old age, mashups of classic art with pop culture figures, Facebook's new headquarters and QR code roof, a 45 foot paper airplane, a bald eagle, a fox and two cats hang out on a porch in Alaska, and Hall & Oates are covered in a moving vehicle. See these and more links on today's Links of Awesomeness...
Pastors and Congregants Wear Hoodies to Church
Image via The Faith Community of St. Sabina, www.stsabina.org.
Christians and other people of good faith nationwide stood in solidarity with Trayvon Martin this weekend by wearing hooded sweartshirts — aka "hoodies"— to church.
Monday marks the one-month anniversary of Trayvon's slaying in Sanford, Florida at the hands of neighborhood "watchman" Gregory Zimmerman, who shot and killed the 17-year-old African-American boy in “self defense” for “looking suspicious” while dressed in a hooded sweatshirt.
Trayvon was unarmed, carrying only a package of Skittles, an iced tea and his cell phone.
Last week, people across the nation began wearing hoodies to work, school, and community marches in response to Trayvon's slaying and the injustice of the kind of racial profiling that it would appear directly led to it. On Sunday, many churches took that vision a step further as pastors and congregants donned hoodies and wore them to church for what some congregations called "Hoodie Sunday."
Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: Hunger Games Edition
Experience the Hunger Games... a history of dystopian literature, tips for surviving the environmental apocalypse, a spoof Coca-Cola ad, soundtrack music from Arcade Fire, fans of the games depicted in charts, American voices respond to the film, and a longer, slightly more accurate book title.
Songs for the Lenten Journey
Music to aide contemplation as we head into the fifth week of Lent and Holy Week…
I discovered Songs for Lent last year on Noise Trade – the site that trades music for promotion, and maybe a small donation — and I think it’s one of the most spiritually moving and challenging albums of the “Christian music” genre, at least that I’ve encountered.
There’s something earthy and beautiful about Songs for Lent that elicits a response I believe is lost in contemporary Christian music. It’s raw, simple, transcendent.