Oh my, so needed, these words. You make me think of Auden and his improvisation of little circles of friends in every phase and every region of his wandering life. Your newsletter helps create refugias like that. But they're not little! Or if they are, relatively speaking, they're small but mighty, thanks be to God.
I thought of you on Wednesday morning when I awoke to the tragic news. I felt gutted and betrayed, and still do. I thought of this definition of hope that I heard a while back: “Hope is the continued commitment to the unresolved.” And so here we are. May God strengthen our hope and resolve. Appreciate you, Debra.
Thanks, Deb. I remember being in your Renaissance and Reformation Lit class eight years ago and finding some solace—if not really comfort—in reading poetry in community. And one of the things I've always loved the most about the refugia idea is its sense of impermanence and contingency, that the point of a refugium is to sustain a few creatures for a little while. I was re-reading Marika Rose's Theology for the End of the World this week, and she writes about "what it might mean to live joyfully and intensely even if we accept that we’re not going to win." That feels like a big question for the next four years and beyond.
Oh my, so needed, these words. You make me think of Auden and his improvisation of little circles of friends in every phase and every region of his wandering life. Your newsletter helps create refugias like that. But they're not little! Or if they are, relatively speaking, they're small but mighty, thanks be to God.
I thought of you on Wednesday morning when I awoke to the tragic news. I felt gutted and betrayed, and still do. I thought of this definition of hope that I heard a while back: “Hope is the continued commitment to the unresolved.” And so here we are. May God strengthen our hope and resolve. Appreciate you, Debra.
Thank you, Ann. Right back at you.
We are here for this, even though it brings us pain.
Thanks, Deb. I remember being in your Renaissance and Reformation Lit class eight years ago and finding some solace—if not really comfort—in reading poetry in community. And one of the things I've always loved the most about the refugia idea is its sense of impermanence and contingency, that the point of a refugium is to sustain a few creatures for a little while. I was re-reading Marika Rose's Theology for the End of the World this week, and she writes about "what it might mean to live joyfully and intensely even if we accept that we’re not going to win." That feels like a big question for the next four years and beyond.
I’m so grateful for you and your work, Debra.
Lord have mercy.
Thank you!!! 💚🕊💚
Thank you so much. Reading this helped me to have a flicker of hope and your ending about sustaining each other brings me some comfort.
Thank you Debra!