Yesterday, Wendell Berry died. He was 92 years old, at home in Port Royal, Kentucky—the place to which he had given so much of his life, attention, labor, and love. There seems something fitting about that. Wendell Berry spent a
Topsy-Turvy by Dwight J. Friesen Something has gone topsy-turvy.We have put our shoes on our hands,our hats on our feet,and somehow are surprisedthat walking has become difficult.We have begun loving things that cannot love us back—flags, borders, institutions,the carefully guarded
Raising Dwights by Dwight J. Friesen When fear comes,it is rarely alone.A little boy arrivesalready scanning the roomfor danger.A teenager pulls out his résumé,certain he can earn our belongingif given enough work.Another reaches for humor.Another for theology.Another quietly packs a
Grandma Loeppky by Dwight J. Friesen There are still momentswhen I measure loveby the way your face openedbefore a single word was spoken.As though delightcould arrive ahead of me,already setting another placeat the table.You welcomed methe way morning welcomes windows—not
Some days seem to know exactly what they are. Friday was one of those days. My partner and I went to see the new Mary Oliver documentary at SIFF near Seattle Center. Before the film, we stopped by KEXP, where
The Quilt We Make Together by Dwight J. Friesen No single squareever calls itself the quilt.It arrives offering what only it canits own beautiful history—a worn sleeve,a child’s Sunday dress,a farmer’s shirt softenedby seasons of weather and work.On their ownthey
Harmony by Dwight J. Friesen The world keeps asking for a single note.One flag lifted above every other.One story told loud enoughto drown out the rest.One certainty.One tribe.One voice.Yet every spring, the forest declines.The cedar does not become fern.The river
Breathwork by Dwight J. Friesen Before you learned the names of things,before you called anything sacredor ordinary,you were breathing.The first sermonwas not spoken,it entered your lungs.Each inhale:receiving what you did not create.Each exhale:returning what was never yours to keep.The trees
The Great Divide by Noah Kahan I can’t recall the last time that we talkedAbout anything but looking out for copsWe got cigarette burns in the same side of our hands, we ain’t friendsWe’re just morons, who broke skin in
Reunion by Albert Huffstickler This is how it is:one part of you journeys forthwhile the other stays at home to wait and keep things going.And the years passwith you (the waiter) going about your businesswhile you wonder how he is
The Cure by Albert Huffstickler We think we get over things.We don’t get over things.Or say, we get over the measlesbut not a broken heart.We need to make that distinction.The things that become part of our experiencenever become less a
“Mountain of My Mind” by Chris Stapleton There’s a destination, I’ve got a ways to goThere’s a revelation that I might never knowSomewhere, salvation is waiting down the roadSo, I think I’ll find a long white lineCurse the world and
You Never Know by Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) You could make gray, call it gold Let it fool your eyes You could make rain and let it have your life Being green grass, any little wind Begs you
Without Love by Kitty Tsui I cannot do without love the way I make myself do without food or sleep or sex I cannot do without love sometimes I rummage through my papers scraps of dreams thoughts from long ago
Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully
The performance at last night’s Grammy’s that most pulled me in – and I think – stole the show, was Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs “Fast Car” duet. So beautiful. It was sheer joy to watch Chapman play and sing
Last night Billie Eilish performed on Saturday Night Live and I thought it was simply beautiful. What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish & Finneas Baird O’Connell I used to float, now I just fall down I used to
True Blue by boygenius You said you wanted to feel alive So we went to the beach You were born in July, ’95 In a deadly heat You say you’re a winter bitch But summer’s in your blood You can’t
Love on a Night Like This by Josephine Abbot Outside, air is balancing itself. We can hear branches in motion, some twigs breaking, wires like violin strings, trees breathy as bass flutes. The acoustics of friction. The science of equilibrium
On this Holy Friday I share this thoughtful reflection on the Stations of the Cross by Irish theologian and poet, Pádraig Ó Tuama. He recorded this reflection for the first Holy Week of the COVID era. Pádraig walks us through the
River by Leon Bridges Been traveling these wide roads for so long My heart’s been far from you Ten-thousand miles gone Oh, I wanna come near and give ya Every part of me But there is blood on my hands
O Holy Night performed by Ben Caplan I have to give a shout out to Zach W. Lambert for his outstanding Twitter thread in which he walks through the story behind “O Holy Night,” highlighting the prophetic invitation of its
One week left! As a child I found this final week was almost unbearable… anticipation overload! Time off school, gifts to open, gifts to give, fun events in my neighborhood, school, church and extended family. Just a different kind of
The other night Bono was the lone guest with Steven Colbert, promoting his new book… a memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. After their conversation Bono inhabited a reinterpreted version of “With or With out You” offering a spoken word
Over the last couple of days I’ve watched and re-watched this short film/poem by the great Irish poet and theologian, Pádraig Ó Tuama. So beautiful, as is most of what he puts out into the world. The poem is titled
For Calling The Spirit Back From Wandering The Earth In Its Human Feet by Joy Harjo Put down that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop. Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control. Open the
Poem for the Beings Who Arrived By Marwa Helal if you ask me where i come from i have to converse with broken wings. this is a line. and all love is agreement, each day of living: an agree or
Thirty-one years ago today – September 24, 1991 – Seattle’s Nirvana released their groundbreaking, sophomore LP, Nevermind… can’t believe that was more than three decades ago! Damn that is one great record. To me Nevermind still feels raw and emotional;
I have recently found a poet whom I am can’t believe I have lived without until now. Her name is Mona Lisa Saloy. I read Dr. Saloy and something opens inside me. So good, so very good! God Was Willing
So I was listening to KEXP radio and heard the song “Go Easy Kid.” Monica Martin is a new artist to me, and I’m loving what I’m hearing so far. But this song stopped me in my tracks, I had
