The Nightstand

They Stood On Their Feet

The poetry in this book captures some of those everyday moments and holds them up in a light that makes possible another kind of clarity, not that of simply worded declarations on a page, but that which concerns our own selves and souls.

Thinking about the Post-Pandemic (and, Maybe, the Post-Suburban) Neighborhood

Chuck Marohn's work, whatever disagreements one may have with it, gives us some good counsel on where to start changing suburban-addicted minds and fiscal incentives.

Imagining Divine Participation

No matter how fallen or distant from God the world around us may seem, the distance is never absolute.

Consider the Forest: A Review of Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life...

If a human timescale—privileging our experience and our hopes—is insufficient to understand the forest, then maybe we will be provoked to reconsider both the human and forestal timescale.

Christian Anarchy Come of Age: Dorothy Day and the Common Good

In Journey Films’ documentary, Dorothy Day: Revolution of the Heart, Day is reintroduced to a new audience, emphasizing Day not as a patron saint of the poor or primarily as a woman of deep Benedictine piety, but as a Christian anarchist.

Between Port Royal and Patagonia

Being wealthy doesn’t make Chouinard a better representative of the values that he shares with Berry, but recognizing that Berry is not alone and that these values can be brought into the wider world, if imperfectly, makes their embrace of limits and simplicity more compelling and their approach to life seem more possible for others.

Wholeness and Gratitude: Working through Scott H. Moore’s How to Burn...

Moore insists that his book about farming is not exclusively about rural places: “the point is not even about farming . . . most of what I’ve said in this book is equally applicable to work in the office, factory, classroom, or home." Moore argues that in each of these locations, the human experience begins and ends with gratitude.

Poems, Essays, Stories, and Songs for a Pandemic

When despair for the world grows in me . . .

The Ordinary Christian Option

Elevated figures in church history have a great deal to teach us, but we should not forget that we can also learn from the early, run-of-the-mill Christians who were as ordinary as we are, yet who, as the collective body of Christ, experienced vibrant faith and incredible growth in an inhospitable environment.

An Artistic Ecosystem: A Review of Makoto Fujimura’s Culture Care

If truth, beauty, and goodness are truly and mystically related, beauty really is dangerous—but only to evil. Reading Culture Care, and contemplating Makoto Fujimura’s art, I can believe it.