Springtime
Spring 2026 - A quarterly update.
To break up the essays, and to put cracks into the fourth wall, I’ve begun a quarterly rhythm: a reflection of the ways theology and the arts are finding me these days. What’s inspiring me, what I’m working on, and some recommendations. Feel free to share what you’ve been excited about lately, or let me know if we have any common interests.
Spring
Bamboo in the Four Seasons, attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu, 15th-16th century
What I’m up to: in the academy…
A frantic, bittersweet three weeks of the semester remains before I begin my last round of finals at Duke Divinity School. The trees are blooming, the word counts are climbing, and deadlines approaching. I feel confident that this will not be the last degree I pursue, but for now this chapter is closing. In preparation for this shift, I invested in new headshots. Behold.
Pragmatism fuels this pause in academia—it is my turn to pay the bills. In the fall, I’ll be passing the grad student baton to my husband Lucas as he begins his Master of Fine Arts in technical production. This chunky master’s degree takes three years of coursework punctuated by internships (like an MDiv) and it is the terminal degree for theatre. We are both so excited for all the creative growth to come from this next season for him; it is so fun to learn things you love with people who are good at their craft.
In the parish…
This month, I concluded my Parish Discernment Committee meetings and the local phase of the Anglican ordination process. These are a collection of 5ish gatherings where a team of people from my congregation interview me to help discern whether I should pursue ordained ministry. The committee members review my spiritual autobiography, a letter of support from my husband, a letter of recommendation from my rector (head pastor), and then we sit down together with over a hundred questions and they grill me on everything from my personal relationship with Jesus to how I handle stress. In the next month, they’ll gather without me for one final meeting where they’ll write a letter to our bishop deciding whether I should continue down the path towards holy orders. A special shoutout to the civil engineer and structural engineer on my committee for putting up with constant depictions of spiritual things as ‘stories’ or ‘performances’, and excessive amounts of whimsy.
This past month I led a Psalm Writing Workshop for the Writer’s Guild I’ve launched at our church. This was part of a larger spiritual formation initiative, encouraging our parishioners to lean into the Psalms as a way of walking through Lent. After a brief lesson on the history, anatomy, and rhetoric of the Psalms, the participants were invited to spend time in quiet prayer and try writing a psalm themselves. The evening concluded with a gathering to share reflections and prayers together, and it was a truly beautiful thing to witness to the prayers of each other’s hearts through poetry. This is something anyone can do! If you’d like to try it yourself, David Taylor has some great templates here.
In the arts…
And as always, I have been making and musing! Here’s where you can find my recent writing and speaking:
Sermon Podcast Link — Click to listen to a recent sermon I preached on Ezekiel’s dry bones and the raising of Lazarus in John 11.
Recommendations and inspiration:
Books, music, articles, ideas, colors, things, etc.
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset — This epic of a 14th century Norwegian woman’s life won the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, for good reason. The story moves deeply through sin, love, and loyalty in family life. It was perhaps my favorite Lenten read this spring. Don’t let the page count overwhelm you; the narrative is engrossing and the translation leaves Undset’s writing sparse yet warm.
This recent post from Makoto Fujimura — more theatre and theology on Substack, from one of the greats! Fujimura reviews the upcoming Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. I particularly like this quote: “Great theatre does that. It holds the mirror at precisely the right angle—not to flatter, not to condemn, but to witness.”
My favorite candles. It should come as no surprise that I fall hard and fast for a boutique experience, and the Candlefish library is no exception. I just ran out of my favorite (no. 96), and thought more people should know about this Charleston-based small business. They label their 100 candle scents by number rather than fragrance, so that while shopping in-person you are able to experience each candle without prejudice. You can also shop online, with descriptions. Some of my other favorites: no. 41 and no. 78. They’re cotton wicks, soy wax, the works.
Seven Last Words from the Cross by James MacMillan — If you’re looking for an artistic way to mark Holy Week this year, this is an eerie, stunning, densely theological musical setting of Christ’s seven final statements from the cross which can be listened to in less than an hour. In particular, I’ll point to the opening setting, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” where MacMillan cultivates a sense of being inside Christ’s memory by layering the triumphant shouts of the Palm Sunday crowd over a plainsong voice narrating his desolation. This is not easy listening, but it is rich. Here’s a composer’s commentary to accompany your listening.
As always, I am so grateful to you for being here. Join me next month as I share about imagination and genre in our spiritual lives, and feel free to share below what’s inspiring you lately!
I would LOVE to hear more about the Psalm writing workshop!! Sounds sooo interesting!