Looking back and ahead

Growing up, I was deeply ambivalent about new year celebrations. It was fun to stay up and count down to midnight, but there was something slightly troubling about it. Did the simple passage of time, of our planet around its sun, mean anything for our hope, progress, or wellness? I was drawn to emo songs about this question, like Death Cab for Cutie’s tune that begins, “So this is the new year, and I don't feel any different. The clanking of crystal, explosions off in the distance . . .”

I now see that, as with many things, the changing of the year is what we make of it. It’s a natural opportunity to look back on and learn from the recent past and to plan and dream for the chapter to come. It’s also a great time for Top 10 lists!! Or in our case, a Top 23 for 2023 list—the 23 most popular articles on our website this past year. I love so many of the pieces on this list, and I hope you do too.

Plus some brand new content. Scroll down for an interview with Fleming Rutledge about the importance of Epiphany, a Yolanda Pierce essay about laughing until we cry, and much more..

Email me: What are you looking forward to in 2024?

Jon Mathieu
[email protected]

The most popular online articles this past year.

The glory of Epiphany

“The themes of the season of Epiphany can be a strong antidote to a weak Christology. ​​The mainline churches have drifted toward a tendency to neglect the apostolic message about the identity and destiny of the Messiah.”

The grace of deep-bellied laughter

“We need to laugh until we cry on a regular basis. We need to experience the fullness of God’s grace, with great laughter and mirth.”

In the Lectionary for January 7 (Baptism B)

As if he were working on an assembly line, John dips and raises, dips and raises.

A blessedly particular theology of evil

“John Swinton bravely tells us what he thinks without hiding behind academic jargon.”

Jason Byassee reviews Deliver Us from Evil

The absurdity of originalism

““The court ruled that a gun law is unconstitutional unless similar laws existed in the era of the Constitution’s framing. There were no bans on gun possession by domestic abusers in 1791. Domestic abuse was not part of the cultural consciousness, and women were considered property.””

from the CC editors