Wes Young Writer

This Season Finale is a short story entitled "Hird Island." The tale is a coastal adventure set against the backdrop of the bizarre and tragic year 2020. [*For another fun story featuring McIntosh County, try my new novel, Reaching Sol. Find more at wesyoungwriter.com.]

Today's episode explores what I refer to as the "Sapelo Sentiment," which was a strangely haunting feeling that struck me while touring Georgia's remote Sapelo Island. The sentiment is partly captured in Psalm 39:4-7 "Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you."

*Link to Sapelo Tour Website: https://sapelonerr.org/visit-sapelo-island/

Hero stories are everywhere, and they have been around a long, long time. Some stories are Judeo-Christian (David killing Goliath). Most are not (Spider-Man killing the Green Goblin). Are these stories innocent entertainment, or can they corrode into something else? Today's episode wrestles with this question. Two things to keep in mind: 1) At least the heroes of old, like Odysseus and Beowulf, are seen praying to and relying on higher powers. How often do we see contemporary heroes doing this? 2) Don't underestimate the power of humans to worship some odd, odd things. Take a look at this verse from Ezekiel, Chapter 8: "Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, 'Son of man, now dig into the wall.' So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there. And he said to me, 'Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.' So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel."

*For further reading, here is the link to a fascinating 1998 article by Natalie Angier entitled "Drugs, Sports, Body Image and G.I. Joe": https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/featured_articles/981222tuesday.html

If I asked 100 Americans what happened last July 4, I would get 100 different answers. "I was at the lake" and "I was at a BBQ" and so forth. But if I asked 100 Americans what happened July 4, 1776, I would get one answer. "History" often pretends to be multiple-choice-simple, but it is far from it. Today's episode explores the reason for this and, more importantly, the significance of it in terms of how we see and react to the world. The stories and histories we believe and tell determine everything about the present and future decisions we make. Upon what Story will you build your life? Listen today to find out more.

*Note: Here is the link to Shane Morris's interview with Tom Holland: https://breakpoint.org/how-the-christian-revolution-remade-the-world/

There's an interesting bit of linguistics in the famous 1 Corinthians 13 passage. Modern translations use the word "love" (like in verse 13, "faith, hope, and love, but the greatest is love"). Older versions, like the King James, use instead the word "charity." Now this discrepancy is no doubt the simple, inevitable drift of language. "Charity" meant "love" to a 17th century Britain, but it means something else to a 21st century American. When we say "charity," we mean the giving of something (food, clothing, shelter, money, whatever) to a person in need. I must say, though, that this particular semantic drift strikes me as especially significant. In today's episode, I want to explore the interplay between giving and loving. Despite what our secular age keeps telling me, I don't think that JUST ADD MONEY is the real answer to anything.

Satan's earliest tactic (and one of his favorites to this day): "Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?" Translation, "Stop focusing on God and start analyzing the lines God has drawn." Folks, knowing right and wrong is a wonderful thing, but there are two ways to go about it. 1) Studying "the lines" in order to know just how much you can get away with. 2) Studying the lines out of a pure and passionate desire to live righteously. Today's episode investigates this distinction, with special emphasis on the culture of our land and the school climate it creates.

C. S. Lewis once wrote, "You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down." Today's episode explores two similar phenomena: One, that you can only praise God in a slump if you are, in fact, in a slump. And two, you can only love an enemy if you, in fact, have an enemy. We also should remember G. K. Chesterton's line, "The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people."

By listener request, I'm reposting this archived episode. It's a fun one to revisit, now that Reaching Sol is in fact on shelves, which at the time of this recording was only a dream. Here goes: Storytelling is so much more than entertainment. This storytelling episode, “Live from Waleska,” gives a taste of my new novel as presented at Reinhardt University in Waleska, GA on July 9, 2020. You can find all my published work at www.wesyoungwriter.com.

By listener request, I'm reposting this archived episode. It's a fun one to revisit, now that Reaching Sol is in fact on shelves, which at the time of this recording was only a dream. Here goes: Humans tell stories as assuredly as we plant crops and drink water. This episode—a live lecture recorded at Limestone Baptist Church, Cochran, GA—investigates the role of story in the Christian walk and in contemporary culture. Find more about Wes Young’s own stories at wesyoungwriter.com.

By listener request, I'm reposting this archived episode. It's a fun one to revisit, now that Reaching Sol is in fact on shelves (see wesyoungwriter.com). Also, the essay that fueled this recorded lecture is currently (April, 2022) under consideration with Mythlore. Anyway, here goes: Who (or what) steers the ship of our culture? And how, exactly? This stand-alone bonus episode of East and Wes includes a recording of my recent lecture at Reinhardt University on allegory, literature, and C. S. Lewis. We need to wake up to the forces making us who we are.