Print Vol. 8

Foreword

Early in Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring,” Gandalf is giving Frodo the real history of Middle Earth, not the washed-down, gossip-filled, that-was-the-past kind of history that floated over the top of frothy mugs in the Shire, but the dangerous, complicated, and looming history that would compel Frodo to action. It involved his family, and danger, and the imminent loss of his creature comforts. And it all felt beyond his control.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. 

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Sound familiar? I don’t mean in that, ‘oh yeah I think I remember that scene’ kind, I mean does it sound like someone has been making your life into an allegory? The amount of unprecedented global events that have transpired in the last year, let alone the last decade, had me muttering Frodo’s sentiment to myself this morning. Tensions around the COVID-19 pandemic, violence and vitriol surrounding racial differences, Russia invading Ukraine, a looming climate change threshold, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg from cruising altitude.

It says nothing about what your daily life has been like. For the grief, the trauma, the anxiety, the depression, the broken people all around you, and all the million things that make those previous headlines seem unimportant.

I wish it need not have happened … 

… So do I. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

We did not pick our family or our moment in time on Earth, but we do get to choose how we live in it. Here at And Sons, we believe that means that we get to choose if we want to chase after wholeheartedness, after Jesus, after being initiated and becoming a good father, husband, friend, and leader. It is up to us to choose the narrow way that leads to life, and not once, but a hundred times each day.

In light of that, we have pulled together a print volume filled with articles meant to connect, inspire, teach, and confess as we journey together. My hope is that this will be a source of refreshment, laughter, conversation, and a cairn or trail marker for any that follow, that you might be encouraged and know that you do not make the journey alone.

Here’s to deciding what to do with our time.

 – Sam Eldredge

Contents

Foreword

When I Stopped Believing In God

The Impossibility of Certainty

“You are Novak Djokovic”

What do you Envision?

Only the Lover Endures

Technique vs. Power

More Soldier Than Son

This, I Learned in Africa

Aaron Anderson: A Humanizing Lens

Swimming with Jesus

A Final Toast

Neck Beards (and Other Signs of Self-Neglect)

A Word on God

Gear Guide: Whiskey Tasting

Just An Addict

Don’t Freak Out

Contributors

WRITERS

Ben Richardson, Blaine Eldredge, Brandon Palma, Brodie Arbeiter, Cameron Moix, Erik Swenson, Jesse Barkalow, John “Padre” Eldredge, Jon Carlson, Jon Dale, Kayla Duke, Luke Eldredge, Sam Eldredge, Sarah Bianchi, Tim Hayes

ARTWORK & PHOTOGRAPHY

Aaron Anderson, Aniketh Kanakurthi Afab, Becca Kaiser, Brodie Arbeiter, Chris Koelle, Erik Swenson, Goce Ilievski, Grandfailure, Kayla Duke, Malachi Brooks, Richard Seldomridge, Simon Lee, Taylor Brandon, Wookie Jones

DESIGN & LAYOUT

Wookie Jones