I admit it: after all these days at home on my own, I’m growing tired of words. Maybe not “words,” exactly, and certainly not books. In fact, I’m probably not reading as much as I’d hoped, what will teaching and other work projects and general befuddlement. No, I suppose it’s more the cascade of articles and “hot takes” that greet me anytime I head online. Which I’m probably doing too much because—see above—I live alone.
Don’t get me wrong: many things I see are thoughtful and useful and well-written. But today, I just don’t have it in me to add to the pile. Silence seems more becoming. Do you really need to read one more thing today?
That’s undoubtedly a bad attitude (or at least slacking) if you’re supposed to write a blog post. Turns out: I don’t care. Sometimes we with spaces to talk need to shut up.
Instead, a small gift.
This week should have been the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Festival of Faith & Writing. It’s okay: it’s only postponed until April 2021. And I know it’s going to be amazing when we can finally gather together.
I’m extremely lucky to get to work on the team at the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing—and after almost two years of intense planning, we couldn’t let the week go by without sharing a few treasures.
One of them is a film we’ve been working on for the last couple of years. Under the direction of our mega-talented media producer, the Emmy-awarding Jon Brown, I got to interview much decorated children’s writer Katherine Paterson for what we’re calling a “short-ish documentary” to celebrate her extraordinary life. She’s one of our patron saints at the CCFW—modeling how belief and books can come together beautifully and honestly and faithfully.
Katherine is a long-time friend as well, so I’m delighted for you to be able to see the film on Friday here.
And yes, the film is about words. But more than that, it’s about embodiment—how the words become enfleshed in a life well-lived, into a way of being that is generative and gracious and collaborative at its core.
Words that inspire us to be able to speak again when we’re ready.
Watch the trailer here:
