A mild man at a Wild festival

I have just returned to Chicago after four days in the North Carolina heat, where I experienced my first ever Wild Goose Festival. My colleague Jessica Mesman and I were there representing the magazine and supporting Century writers and podcasters like Reggie Williams, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Cassidy Hall, and Bill McKibben (and more!). We also connected with some really exciting scholars, faith leaders, activists, and authors we hope will contribute to our magazine in the months and years to come. 

In what is almost certainly a coincidence but still feels strangely destined, some of our recent articles in the Century have the same vibe as the Wild Goose experience. Melissa Florer-Bixler describes how Jesus resisted wealth’s power not through asceticism, but through extravagant consumption. Jonathan Tran shares about his chickens (which are not geese, but the article still brings me back to the North Carolina wilderness). Philip Jenkins reflects on an English novelist who was ahead of her time—as some of the co-creators at Wild Goose are ahead of ours.

No new video this week due to these wild travels, but I did appear on a podcast hosted by a Century reader (and in case you’re ever looking for a podcast guest, I’m available!). In this episode we discussed universal salvation.

Email me: Who do you think is ahead of our time today?

Jon Mathieu
[email protected]

Extravagant consumption

“The image of Jesus I am most comfortable with is the itinerant preacher who owned no property, had no privately held money, and lived with few worldly possessions. And so it is an unsettling reminder that Jesus is often involved in extravagant consumption.”

Me and my Rhode Island Reds

“We were used to cats: after the one we had for 16 years died, we loaded up with four more. Four cats is a lot, but that didn’t prepare us for chickens.”

Rose Macaulay was ahead of her time

“A prolific and once very popular writer who addressed wildly diverse, often daring topics, many of Rose Macaulay’s novels deserve rereading. But one brilliant book in particular clamors for rediscovery.”

by Philip Jenkins

In the Lectionary for July 23 (Ordinary 16A)

Hope has not seen, and hope does not know.

Ordinary violence

“Focusing on the clash of international relations deceives us by presenting violence as exceptional, when scripture wants us to see it as the often invisible irritant within our everyday lives.”

by Myles Werntz

The corrosive power of regret

“Regret, while sometimes necessary in order to achieve accountability, can blight individual lives.”

by Marina Cantacuzino