About me: My name is Matthew Huff, and I’m a writer and English teacher at a Christian school south of Atlanta. When I’m not three cups deep into a pot of coffee, I can usually be found hosting tea parties with my three daughters – Julianna, Madelyn, and Lily – while enjoying the company of my beautiful wife, Kristen.

I’ve spent the better part of a decade studying and teaching English, and I am enthusiastically passionate about literature, poetry, music, and the Bible. I love coffee, winter, round tables, jazz music, and good food.

My purpose in creating this blog is primarily as a platform for conversations on literature, Christianity, culture, and the imagination as well as to explore original poetry and fiction.

“Why use bitter soup for healing when sweet water is everywhere?”

-Rumi

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So what is Eden.Babel all about?

At its core, this blog is my attempt to fuse my love for literature and theology, and I believe the scope of poetic and artistic effort can be summed up in one statement: we are all longing for Eden in the midst of Babel. In other words, this world is cracked, but luckily, that’s where all the best light shines through. As C.S. Lewis said, the difference between looking at a beam of light and looking along it is immense.

In Ephesians 5, Paul tells us to “[b]e imitators of God as dearly loved children.” Given this command, the most helpful way to begin such an imitation would be to ask: “Well, what is God like?” And to answer this, we might as well turn to the first sentence of the first book of the Bible to begin our list. So, in Gen. 1:1 we see that “[i]n the beginning, God created,” and we find our first characteristic to imitate. God creates. He is creative, but not in any old sort of way. God creates within a narrative. God is The Storyteller, and we are called to imitate Him in this storytelling. Therefore, a significant way to grasp the nature of God is to see how our stories (down here) help us to determine our position in The Story (up there) that He is narrating.

So here are just some of the things you’ll find at Eden.Babel:

• Original poetry
• Recorded poetry readings
• Video (via YouTube Channel)
• Literature discussion/analysis
• Theological commentary
• Book reviews/recommendations
• Music reviews/recommendations

In a sense, Eden.Babel seeks to explore the beauty and glory of Christ in a culture longing to be beautified and glorified. Through the mindful consideration of literature and theology, as well as art, music, history, politics, poetry, and the like, my prayer is for a reformation in our church and our culture that calls the world to see and to feel the absolute glory of Christ in all things.

“If I am going to get nailed, I would rather it be for doing the right thing poorly instead of the wrong thing well.” – Douglas Wilson