Justin Lonas
@jryanlonas.bsky.social
Writer & poet, cook, hiker, husband, dad, nonprofit employee, etc., from Chattanooga, Tennessee. MDiv — Reformed Theological Seminary. Writing about life, literature, church, culture, mercy & justice.
The Blues Brothers is a Wes Anderson movie:
— childhood wounds
— ironic, offbeat script and delivery
— long segments of pop music
— odd set pieces
— uncanny movements
— use of closeups
— tender moral core underneath comic violence and destruction.
I will not be taking questions at this time.
— childhood wounds
— ironic, offbeat script and delivery
— long segments of pop music
— odd set pieces
— uncanny movements
— use of closeups
— tender moral core underneath comic violence and destruction.
I will not be taking questions at this time.
June 19, 2025 at 3:24 AM
The Blues Brothers is a Wes Anderson movie:
— childhood wounds
— ironic, offbeat script and delivery
— long segments of pop music
— odd set pieces
— uncanny movements
— use of closeups
— tender moral core underneath comic violence and destruction.
I will not be taking questions at this time.
— childhood wounds
— ironic, offbeat script and delivery
— long segments of pop music
— odd set pieces
— uncanny movements
— use of closeups
— tender moral core underneath comic violence and destruction.
I will not be taking questions at this time.
Spotted a cool protest poster
June 14, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Spotted a cool protest poster
"How much cruelty is occasioned simply because of the *noise* that is within us: the din is too great to realize exactly what we are doing to others, or what is being done to others in our name...
June 11, 2025 at 2:20 PM
"How much cruelty is occasioned simply because of the *noise* that is within us: the din is too great to realize exactly what we are doing to others, or what is being done to others in our name...
Hope everyone gets this memo for the wannabe dictator's totalitarian cosplay birthday party...
a woman with tears in her eyes and the words " do n't look shut your eyes at happens "
ALT: a woman with tears in her eyes and the words " do n't look shut your eyes at happens "
media.tenor.com
June 10, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Hope everyone gets this memo for the wannabe dictator's totalitarian cosplay birthday party...
Sometimes, loving your enemy starts with recognizing that they were never your friend.
June 9, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Sometimes, loving your enemy starts with recognizing that they were never your friend.
Grateful to God for the life and work of Walter Brueggemann. His faithful insistence on the whole-life nature of following Jesus...
Walter Brueggemann: In Memory
Walter Brueggemann passed away peacefully on June 5, 2025, at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife, Tia, his sons, James and John, and their families. To read his online biography, click here.…
www.walterbrueggemann.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Grateful to God for the life and work of Walter Brueggemann. His faithful insistence on the whole-life nature of following Jesus...
In an era when all the news most people read is the headlines, headline writers have a great responsibility.
And the legacy media here in the U.S. is blowing it badly, often (looking at you @nytimes.com, @cnn.com, @usatoday.com, etc.)
And the legacy media here in the U.S. is blowing it badly, often (looking at you @nytimes.com, @cnn.com, @usatoday.com, etc.)
May 25, 2025 at 11:51 PM
In an era when all the news most people read is the headlines, headline writers have a great responsibility.
And the legacy media here in the U.S. is blowing it badly, often (looking at you @nytimes.com, @cnn.com, @usatoday.com, etc.)
And the legacy media here in the U.S. is blowing it badly, often (looking at you @nytimes.com, @cnn.com, @usatoday.com, etc.)
Can't shake the feeling that what is going on in the U.S. these days is a dirty amalgam of what it would look like if the Confederacy won the Civil War and the Soviets won the cold war...which begs the question of whether "winning" a war (real or cultural) can ever lead to flourishing long term.
May 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Can't shake the feeling that what is going on in the U.S. these days is a dirty amalgam of what it would look like if the Confederacy won the Civil War and the Soviets won the cold war...which begs the question of whether "winning" a war (real or cultural) can ever lead to flourishing long term.
We're wrapping up reading LOTR aloud as a family and just finished "The Scouring of the Shire" this week.
(1/4)
(1/4)
May 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM
We're wrapping up reading LOTR aloud as a family and just finished "The Scouring of the Shire" this week.
(1/4)
(1/4)
It's really the ripe moment for someone to do a very toothy film adaptation of Walker Percy's satirical 1971 novel Love in the Ruins.
Who should direct?
Who should direct?
May 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
It's really the ripe moment for someone to do a very toothy film adaptation of Walker Percy's satirical 1971 novel Love in the Ruins.
Who should direct?
Who should direct?
Not great.
CHATTANOOGA TFP: “@TNHighwayPatrol applied for a task force model to let state troopers enforce activities under ICE supervision… would join 16 other states & 140+ law enforcement agencies...”
TLDR: THP is officially an arm of the Trump regime. www.timesfreepress.com/news/2025/ma...
TLDR: THP is officially an arm of the Trump regime. www.timesfreepress.com/news/2025/ma...
May 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Not great.
Passed a car parked on Main St. here in Chattanooga this morning with two bumper stickers:
1) Tr*mp/Vance 2024 "Take America Back"
2) a simple blue sticker reading "I ❤️ the Constitution"
My brother in Christ, you cannot have both.
1) Tr*mp/Vance 2024 "Take America Back"
2) a simple blue sticker reading "I ❤️ the Constitution"
My brother in Christ, you cannot have both.
May 15, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Passed a car parked on Main St. here in Chattanooga this morning with two bumper stickers:
1) Tr*mp/Vance 2024 "Take America Back"
2) a simple blue sticker reading "I ❤️ the Constitution"
My brother in Christ, you cannot have both.
1) Tr*mp/Vance 2024 "Take America Back"
2) a simple blue sticker reading "I ❤️ the Constitution"
My brother in Christ, you cannot have both.
Reposted by Justin Lonas
The VP of El Salvador repeatedly told me "the ball is in your court" when it comes to bringing Abrego Garcia home — making clear Trump is violating a 9-0 SCOTUS ruling to “facilitate” his return.
I said this in my recent letter to Trump, and here's the video to back it up:
I said this in my recent letter to Trump, and here's the video to back it up:
WATCH: Van Hollen meeting with Vice President of El Salvador
YouTube video by Senator Chris Van Hollen
youtu.be
May 15, 2025 at 12:16 PM
The VP of El Salvador repeatedly told me "the ball is in your court" when it comes to bringing Abrego Garcia home — making clear Trump is violating a 9-0 SCOTUS ruling to “facilitate” his return.
I said this in my recent letter to Trump, and here's the video to back it up:
I said this in my recent letter to Trump, and here's the video to back it up:
Are we to the part where three spirits visit him and he repents and makes reparations to everyone he's wronged, yet?
May 14, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Are we to the part where three spirits visit him and he repents and makes reparations to everyone he's wronged, yet?
"The Lord is not Nemesis. He is free, acting toward His own ends, indifferent to the harsh symmetry of revenge."
—Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis
—Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis
May 13, 2025 at 11:11 AM
"The Lord is not Nemesis. He is free, acting toward His own ends, indifferent to the harsh symmetry of revenge."
—Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis
—Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis
Waiting for all my "law and order" people to tell me when the President's lawbreaking bothers them...
Which laws matter? Which parts of the Constitution need following?
Or was this always just an excuse to gut government services for those in poverty and brutalize non-white citizens & immigrants?
Which laws matter? Which parts of the Constitution need following?
Or was this always just an excuse to gut government services for those in poverty and brutalize non-white citizens & immigrants?
a man wearing a suit and tie is standing in a field of yellow flowers
ALT: a man wearing a suit and tie is standing in a field of yellow flowers
media.tenor.com
May 11, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Waiting for all my "law and order" people to tell me when the President's lawbreaking bothers them...
Which laws matter? Which parts of the Constitution need following?
Or was this always just an excuse to gut government services for those in poverty and brutalize non-white citizens & immigrants?
Which laws matter? Which parts of the Constitution need following?
Or was this always just an excuse to gut government services for those in poverty and brutalize non-white citizens & immigrants?
Reposted by Justin Lonas
Tennesseans, regardless of political party affiliation, are against cuts to federal programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new statewide poll.
Vanderbilt poll: Tennesseans largely against cuts to Social Security, health care | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Tennesseans, regardless of political party affiliation, are against cuts to federal programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new statewide poll.
www.timesfreepress.com
May 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Tennesseans, regardless of political party affiliation, are against cuts to federal programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new statewide poll.
I will never not be amazed at how the people that taught:
— that private character matters in public office
— all media is inherently propaganda
— the federal government is inherently tyrrannical and local is best
— law enforcement officers are state revenue agents and to be distrusted
— etc.
— that private character matters in public office
— all media is inherently propaganda
— the federal government is inherently tyrrannical and local is best
— law enforcement officers are state revenue agents and to be distrusted
— etc.
May 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I will never not be amazed at how the people that taught:
— that private character matters in public office
— all media is inherently propaganda
— the federal government is inherently tyrrannical and local is best
— law enforcement officers are state revenue agents and to be distrusted
— etc.
— that private character matters in public office
— all media is inherently propaganda
— the federal government is inherently tyrrannical and local is best
— law enforcement officers are state revenue agents and to be distrusted
— etc.
A world of artificial love
Artificial images of
Artificial friends and foes
Artificial brains in our hands
Makes hate seem one real thing to grasp.
Artificial images of
Artificial friends and foes
Artificial brains in our hands
Makes hate seem one real thing to grasp.
May 4, 2025 at 2:30 AM
A world of artificial love
Artificial images of
Artificial friends and foes
Artificial brains in our hands
Makes hate seem one real thing to grasp.
Artificial images of
Artificial friends and foes
Artificial brains in our hands
Makes hate seem one real thing to grasp.
"Dangerous times call for high levels of both calm and courage. You need to assume the worst is going to happen, and work backwards from there."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
A Ticking Clock on American Freedom
It’s later than you think, but it’s not too late.
www.theatlantic.com
April 22, 2025 at 8:24 PM
"Dangerous times call for high levels of both calm and courage. You need to assume the worst is going to happen, and work backwards from there."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
It's a common lament that Americans need to know history better in order to actually self-govern and "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
April 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
It's a common lament that Americans need to know history better in order to actually self-govern and "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
Christian nationalism (at least at a popular level) stems from the same heart-impulse as Peter's sword-blow upon Malchus' ear in the garden.
It's the assumption that God needs protection.
But the way of Jesus is always the way of the cross, but confident in resurrection.
A blessed Easter to all
It's the assumption that God needs protection.
But the way of Jesus is always the way of the cross, but confident in resurrection.
A blessed Easter to all
April 20, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Christian nationalism (at least at a popular level) stems from the same heart-impulse as Peter's sword-blow upon Malchus' ear in the garden.
It's the assumption that God needs protection.
But the way of Jesus is always the way of the cross, but confident in resurrection.
A blessed Easter to all
It's the assumption that God needs protection.
But the way of Jesus is always the way of the cross, but confident in resurrection.
A blessed Easter to all
I've been working through Holy Week in poetry over the past few years, and it's not a complete set yet, but it's become a cherished aspect of worship for me.
Sharing here for you all as well
(1/6)
Sharing here for you all as well
(1/6)
April 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I've been working through Holy Week in poetry over the past few years, and it's not a complete set yet, but it's become a cherished aspect of worship for me.
Sharing here for you all as well
(1/6)
Sharing here for you all as well
(1/6)