I write to you from the Pittsburgh International Airport. I am about to fly to Chicago for some meetings and workshops with my Century colleagues. I look forward to these weeks not only because I like the people I work with, but beceause the gatherings provide an opportunity to reflect on the magazine, to consider the ever-changing work we do together as editors.
And, of course, to sit in gratitude for our writers and readers. One of the things I appreciate about our writers is the close attention they pay to so many different people, places, and practices. They search for meaning and wisdom wherever it may be found. Our new content highoights this well. Icelandic theologian Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir looks to Arctic baptismal practices and what they might teach us about climate change. Melissa Florer-Bixler looks to the history of her own Anabaptist tradition to understand a church on the run. Sam Wells looks to the Bible and finds contemporary resonance with John the Baptist. Emilee Walker-Cornetta looks to seminary campuses where students are asking deep questions as they protest the war in Gaza.
Our video of the week highlights one of my favorite poems ever published in the Century: “Murmuration” by Jeffrey Munroe. Plus scroll down for even more great new content.
Jon Mathieu Email me: What has been a surprising source of wisdom in your life? Click to schedule a Friday lunch chat with Jon Click to find Jon on (X/Twitter alternative) Bluesky
“John the Baptist inspires us to reflect on the causes in which we’ve succeeded that will finally fail and the causes in which we’ve failed that will finally succeed.”
“What would it mean to grapple more thoroughly, as these students invite us to do, with colonialism, Christian Zionism, and perhaps nationalism, all as part of our institutions’ commitments to social justice?”
