Walking composition “J said, You don’t believe in God? And I said,No. I believe in this connection we all haveto nature, to each other, to the universe.And she said, Yeah, God.”—Ada Limón, from “What It… Read more

Walking composition “I want to be where all the ground is friendly.” —My Ántonia, Willa Cather I went up to a Forest Service cabin last week, by myself, just me and a pile of books… Read more

Before the country’s Revolution and subsequent decades under communism, Russian intellectuals were known for heading off into the countryside and monasteries in search of the “pure Russian soul”—a thing that they believed existed, and they… Read more

Walking composition “Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness.” —Fyodr Dostoevsky I stepped outside this morning, early, to find the beginnings of a new snowfall dissolving into mist and the… Read more

Walking composition “The premise of Earth asking something of me—of me!—makes my heart swell.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Returning the Gift” Friends sometimes ask me how long I’ll stick it out in Montana. It’s natural, I… Read more

Another podcast episode queued up, maybe this time on existential risks with Thomas Moynihan of Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute; or a webinar with Elizabeth Kolbert about her new book on saving ourselves through… Read more

Walking composition Zombie baby? Virus godling? Zoom in on that photo above and tell me that that angry infant in a surgical mask is not one of the scarier things you’ve seen. In last week’s… Read more

Note: This essay only addresses Christianity, as it’s the only faith tradition I have much experience of. Some of the points might easily apply to other faiths, but I’m not a religious scholar and wouldn’t… Read more

Walking composition Text from me: “I keep feeling like I’m forgetting how to drive while I’m driving.”Text from friend: “That’s a good metaphor.”. . . <<No really, like I was backing out of a driveway… Read more

Walking composition “That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.” —Willa Cather I had a sketched-out draft of an essay on religious faith for this week, but then decided I wanted to… Read more