Let me show you around

A few of the topics that Precipice frequently delves into

Precipice is the writing activity into which I pour my heart. Please consider supporting it by upgrading to a paid subscription.

Momentum is afoot here at Precipice. Lots of new subscribers are coming on board - including the paying kind!

I hope you realize how this bolsters my sense of mission regarding what I’m up to here. My pastor, who subscribes, said to me a few weeks ago that, when one takes in a few posts with some variety to their focus, it becomes apparent that I’m after something big, but in no hurry to conclude that I’ve arrived. I’d say that’s about right. I feel like I haven’t been gratuitously eclectic, but I also feel that all the levels on which I see the human condition becoming apparent are worthy of consideration on this quest.

In fact, there’s an array of dimensions to life as a citizen of Western civilization - what’s left of it, anyway - that show up with enough frequency that I’ve thought about getting graphically and conceptually fancy with Precipice’s front page, placing posts in categories for easy access according to readers’ interests.

What do you folks think? Is that a move I should make?

For now, I’ll give you some sample posts that fall under particular classifications.

I am inclined to occasionally provide a link to the About page. After four and a half years, I feel like it’s still representative of what’s happening here.

If there’s a topic that kind of permeates - or drives, if you will - the others, it’s that narrow sliver of terrain I inhabit. My sense is that a fair degree of what brings you folks here is that you’ve looked down at where your feet are planted and concluded you stand there as well.

See if you resonate with this post from last September titled “Well, Then, What Shall We Call It?” It’s some reflections on the debasing of the term “conservative.”

Here’s one from December straightforwardly titled “Time For Another Narrow-Sliver-of-Terrain Post.”

I have even looked at unfortunate signs of fissure that have appeared on the infinitesimal piece of real estate, such as this November 2022 examination of the difference between how two Christians I greatly admire, David French and Andrew T. Walker, viewed the Respect For Marriage Act.

Just last month, I pretty much laid it on the line in a post I titled “Stay Home in November.”

Speaking of Christians, I do occasional check-ins on my personal faith walk.

From last December: “Yeah, God Is An Absolutist.”

From last September: “Where You At, Little Dawg?” The subtitle is “Checking In On How Authentically I'm Living My Faith.”

From last June: “Expressing Faith Without Insipid Platitudes.”

From last May: “Can I Clean Up First?”

From August 2021: “I Never Feel Like Waving My Arms.”

From February 2020: “Kicking and Screaming All The Way To Saying Yes.”

I like to contemplate various givens of the human condition, virtues that philosophers have contemplated through history, and traits that make us human, for better or for worse.

From April 2023: “Thoughts on Beauty.”

From last July: “Thoughts on Freedom.”

Also from last July: “Place.”

From May 2023: “Thoughts on Character.”

From October 2021: “The Term ‘Education’ Doesn’t Mean What Most People Think It Does.”

Musician and popular culture historian that I am, I have written a number of posts about music.

From May 2022: “The Laurel Canyon Scene Was a Cesspool of Hedonism, Self-Absorption and Nihilism.”

From February 2021: reflections on the Jeep commercial that Bruce Springsteen did for the Super Bowl.

From July 2020: “The Layers of Significance of One Night Stand! Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club,” a 1963 live album (not release until 1983) by the R&B great and the contrasts between it and his 1964 live album recorded at the Copacabana. I wrote this one during that summer of racial rawness and US cities in flames.

Those who know me can attest that I’m rather preoccupied with food, so Precipice readers will find occasional posts about that sublime aspect of human existence.

From last November: “In Praise of Old-School Fish Joints.” The ones still in existence have a vibe that takes us back to a recognizable America.

“The Best To You Each Morning” from November 2022 looks at the role of the Seventh Day Adventist denomination in the beginnings of the breakfast cereal industry, with a sidebar-ish look at how, for a brief period in the late nineteenth century, Columbus, Indiana was poised to rival Battle Creek, Michigan as the major player.

World-stage developments and US foreign policy are frequently discussed here at Precipice.

From last October: “There’s Not Much Left Of an International Order.”

There is, of course, my most recent piece: “Israel.”

For a while I had a podcast series I called “Exemplars of the Faith” going. Just short - five to ten minutes - looks at cool figures from throughout the history of Christianity.

Episode One looked at William Cowper.

Episode Two: Julian of Norwich.

Episode Three: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Episode Four: Soren Kierkegaard

Episode Five: Augustine of Hippo

Episode Six: Tim Keller

Episode Seven: Oswald Chambers

There are more entries in some of these categories, and I could have grouped some posts into yet more categories, but this gives you a taste of the breadth, hopefully bound in some kind of overarching thematic unification, you’ll find here.

Again, thanks for spending a bit of your time here at Precipice.

If you have any friends or associates you think would find this a worthwhile place to hang out, please let them know.