Frontier Road - Short Stories, Poems, Abridged Classics, and Questions of Belief

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Frontier Road - Short Stories, Poems, Abridged Classics, and Questions of Belief

Frontier Road podcast includes short stories, poems, and excerpts and or abridgments of classical literature, often deriving themes of questioning God, liberation of unbelief, ambiguity and the absurdity of life. We often introduce themes of mid-life crisis, sometimes from a male perspective. Issues of marriage, raising children, mental struggle and melancholy are all major themes within the selected literature. *Frontier Road can often times be satirical and/or irreverent and/or sincere. Viewer discretion advised.

  1. Comparing T.S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi to the Biblical Story of the Wise Men

    4 DAYS AGO

    Comparing T.S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi to the Biblical Story of the Wise Men

    Rather than celebrating the wonders of the journey, The Journey of the Magi presents it as an arduous and painful experience. The poem opens with five lines adapted from a passage in the Nativity Sermon delivered by Lancelot Andrewes, the Bishop of Winchester, to King James I on Christmas Day, 1622. Andrewes’ original text reads: “A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off, in solstitio brumali, the very dead of winter.” This opening sets the tone, introducing the magus’ recollection of a journey fraught with discomfort and doubt. The speaker describes how, throughout their trek, a voice persistently whispered that “this was all folly.” When they finally reach the infant, the magus seems underwhelmed by the child yet profoundly aware that the Incarnation has fundamentally altered the world. The speaker reflects: “…were we led all that way for Birth or Death?” The birth of Christ, he realizes, marked the death of the old world—of magic, astrology, and paganism. Speaking in his old age, the magus admits that the birth not only ended his way of life but left him with little to do but await his own death. During the journey, the Magi witness “three trees against a low sky.” This single image is rich in symbolism, hinting at both the historical future—the crucifixion, an allusion to a pivotal biblical event—and the spiritual truth of what is to come. The lowering skies suggest heaven opening, foreshadowing the transformative significance of Christ’s life and death.

    10 min
  2. Empress Elisabeth (of Netflix fame) – Pierced in our hearts

    DEC 1

    Empress Elisabeth (of Netflix fame) – Pierced in our hearts

    “When I undertook to write a memoir of the late Empress of Austria, I was fully aware of the great difficulties I should encounter, especially as the material I had collected from various quarters was enormous, and I felt it to be my duty to sift it thoroughly and to select only such parts as I could myself believe to be authentic. I have personally had the happiness of meeting the illustrious lady who is the subject of my sketch. I have seen her on many occasions and followed with interest the vicissitudes of her life for the last thirty years. I have often had occasion to write about her and have also had the privilege of knowing some of those who were in her entourage, and who, from time to time, have given me news, anecdotes, and reminiscences of the woman they loved with all their heart and soul.”

    21 min
  3. The challenging First Thanksgiving

    NOV 28

    The challenging First Thanksgiving

    The first Thanksgiving happened a bit differently than most of us might imagine. The Pilgrims’ first governor, William Bradford, endured a profoundly challenging beginning to his time in Plymouth. Before even stepping foot on shore, he suffered a devastating personal loss. His wife, Dorothy, tragically drowned after falling from the Mayflower while it was anchored in Provincetown Harbor. Not long after, Bradford himself narrowly escaped death when he stumbled into a deer trap—a reminder of the dangers they faced in their new and unfamiliar environment. Bradford’s initial impressions of the Indigenous peoples were far from warm. In fact, he harbored deep mistrust, reflecting the tension and uncertainty of their first encounters. His account, written in Of Plymouth Plantation, captures the harshness of their arrival and his perception of their situation: *"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. But here I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amazed at this poor people’s present condition; and so I think will the reader too, when he well considers the same. Being thus past the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation, they had now no friends to welcome them, nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies, no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor. It is recorded in Scripture as a mercy to the Apostle and his shipwrecked company, that the barbarians showed them no small kindness in refreshing them, but these savage barbarians, when they met with them (as after will appear) were readier to fill their sides full of arrows than otherwise. And for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast."*

    6 min
  4. Best of this Week's Internet - Putin & Nukes, Daniel Jones QB, Jay Leno injury, Denzel Washington sees God, etc

    NOV 22

    Best of this Week's Internet - Putin & Nukes, Daniel Jones QB, Jay Leno injury, Denzel Washington sees God, etc

    This week from the best of the internet by 1yak.com. Putin & Nukes, Daniel Jones QB, Jay Leno injury, Denzel Washington sees God, etc

    8 min
  5. The Lake Isle of Innisfree (Poem) compared with Walden Pond

    NOV 21

    The Lake Isle of Innisfree (Poem) compared with Walden Pond

    It was said in 1896 about this poem that it "reaches the ear and holds it, and through it touches the heart. About the author Yeats it was said: "There is no younger poet of our time in whose future fame one may feel a stronger faith." The poet found inspiration in Thoreau’s life, particularly his solitary experience at Walden Pond. Just imagining that isolation helped the poet escape his homesickness and transported him to a more comforting and pleasant state of mind.

    5 min
  6. An Essential Reading of Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau

    OCT 10

    An Essential Reading of Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau

    I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms...

    1h 21m
  7. The Eyes Have It - A Short Story by Philip Dick

    OCT 8

    The Eyes Have It - A Short Story by Philip Dick

    A Short Story about how we sometimes miss meanings by being too literal.

    13 min
  8. “Discussing the ‘We’ in John 21:24: Who Affirms the Testimony?”

    OCT 3

    “Discussing the ‘We’ in John 21:24: Who Affirms the Testimony?”

    Hello Congregation. This short reading and podcast discussion is brought to you by Frontier Road Podcast, a non-denominational, non-affiliate, non-interesting podcast. This sunday school presentation of John 21 is a discussion between a pastor and a parishioner about the curious ending of the Gospel of John, including the statement of “We” and the mystery of its authorship. Though historically and in religious practice, this chapter highlights two significant events: the miraculous catch of fish and the restoration of Peter with Jesus asking “Do you love me?” Rather than focus on these events, we will spend more time talking about who actually wrote this Gospel and why that even matters.

    12 min
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About

Frontier Road podcast includes short stories, poems, and excerpts and or abridgments of classical literature, often deriving themes of questioning God, liberation of unbelief, ambiguity and the absurdity of life. We often introduce themes of mid-life crisis, sometimes from a male perspective. Issues of marriage, raising children, mental struggle and melancholy are all major themes within the selected literature. *Frontier Road can often times be satirical and/or irreverent and/or sincere. Viewer discretion advised.

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