HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
PLEASE READ TODAY’S ENTIRE LETTER for BIG CHANGES here at The Cottage.
On August 3, 2020, I sent out the first issue of The Cottage here on Substack. Since then, we’ve been through a difficult presidential election, a global pandemic (which we’re still going through), the development of a vaccine that even scientists call “miraculous,” multiple climate crises (fires, floods, extreme heat), and a violent insurrection in Washington, DC.
Today, I repost my original essay here:
It is yet another Monday of what will most likely be a difficult week. There are many issues of concern, much to be worried about with both the pandemic and politics. In recent days, however, I’ve found myself less anxious than in the past, as I’ve leaned on these words from the late Marcus Borg’s final book, Convictions:
“Centering in God transforms us. It changes us. It produces what Paul called ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ and ‘the gifts of the Spirit.’ It is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘You will know them by their fruits.’ The fruits of centering in God are many and intertwined, but the most important are compassion, freedom and courage, and gratitude. Sequencing them is thus not about their relative importance; they all go together.”
Usually, when I’ve thought about fruitful spiritual character, the words that come to mind are a traditional list of traits from Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Over the years, I’ve heard many sermons on these nine qualities of mature spirituality, with preachers always urging hearers to grow in these characteristics as evidence of faith.
Marcus’s list – compassion, freedom and courage, and gratitude – both surprised and spoke to me. I wondered why he chose them instead of the more traditional nine. Although I certainly aspire to those four virtues, I hadn’t really thought of them in relation to “centering in God” or the “fruit of the spirit.” But Marcus believed them foundational to the most important thing – “loving what God loves, participating in God’s passion for a different sort of world” – to live a life of justice and mercy woven into the fabric of the world. These fruit – compassion, freedom and courage, and gratitude – are about far more than our own personal character. Yes, they are virtues that grow from the mealy soil of our own souls, rooted and grounded in God, as dispositions cultivated over time. The four fruits aren’t just about our individual spiritual well being, however. These fruits feed others.
Cultivating the fruits of compassion, freedom and courage, and gratitude seem just right at this moment. Compassion is neighbor-directed love; freedom and courage are the power to resist anxiety and fear; and gratitude awakens our senses to gift and wonder. I can’t think of any four things I long for – that I need – that we need – more right now.
As a backyard gardener, I know that growing fruit is part grace and part hard work; part mystery and part practice. But it does take focus. During the spring and summer, I have to pay attention to the garden. Life centers on soil and vines: weeding, watering, fertilizing, shooing pests away, watching and waiting as fruit ripens. Like the garden, “centering on God” takes focus, attention, and nurture on (what theologian Paul Tillich once called) the “Ground of our being.” That is, of course, part mystery. But it is a practice, too.
I wish I could wave a wand and the coronavirus would disappear; I would like our political and economic crises to likewise vanish. But, that of course, is called “magical thinking.” Instead, I want to center down this week, and cultivate compassion, freedom and courage, and gratitude. To center on God isn’t an exercise in spiritual escapism; rather, it is to grow the love, fearlessness, and humility that feeds a hungry world.
On that summer day a year ago, I hoped to cultivate a space of “centering” and “grounding” for myself and for you. Isolated, sad, and unafraid, I worried my own garden was shriveling, and I couldn’t imagine surviving another month without connecting with people and communities that have strengthened me - and that I’ve been lucky enough to serve through writing, teaching, and preaching.
The Cottage is intended to be “part think-tank and part retreat.” In the last year, it has been both - news, trends, and cultural commentary WITH spiritual reflection, inspirational quotes, and poetry. Throughout, I’ve continued to be centered on compassion, freedom and courage, and gratitude - and I hope I’ve pointed you toward them as well.
Along the way, we’ve more than doubled the size of this community - almost 12,000 readers now receive the Cottage. Engagement remains high. You all are commenting more than ever, and you send me more private emails than I ever expected! Unlike every other social media platform on which I write, you all are steadfastly thoughtful, civil, curious, and encouraging. There are moments of angularity and disagreement - but (with just two exceptions) you’ve not been disagreeable!
This anniversary gives me the opportunity to say what most needs to be said:
THANK YOU for coming to THE COTTAGE!
I’m truly glad you are here.
WHAT’S NEXT?
You are invited….
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that there would be widening opportunities for you to participate in The Cottage.
I’m excited (and a little nervous!) to share these changes!
Today is the soft launch of paid subscriptions, an invitation to those of you who already read this newsletter.
This is what you can expect:
1) There are three choices for paid subscriptions:
Monthly ($5 per month)
Yearly ($50 per year)
Cultivating Member ($150 per year).
Benefits for all three levels of paid subscriptions are the same - regular newsletter, full archive access, occasional online chats, discounts to some events and online classes (what you currently receive) plus:
A monthly Zoom chat
A new, members-only podcast called The Secret Garden
Book recommendations, author visits, special guest posts
Sneak peeks at my work-in-progress
Special subscriber-only announcements and posts
Cultivating Members contribute a gift above the yearly rate to support those who cannot pay and to help defray the costs of creating the new offerings.
2) Free subscriptions will continue to exist! If you are already on the list, you don’t need to do anything to continue receiving free posts. They will continue to arrive in your email two or three times a month. You will also be able to comment on free posts (as is currently available), partial archive access, participate in occasional open chats, and access discounts to some events and online classes.
3) No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please contact me directly by replying to this email.
CLICK THE “SUBSCRIBE NOW” BUTTON TO UPGRADE TO A PAID SUBSCRIPTION.
Join with me to grow The Cottage content and community. I am grateful for your support.
INSPIRATION
A hidden wooden cottage is much safer than a solid fortress standing in an obvious place on the hill!
― Mehmet Murat İldan
To be one woman, truly, wholly, is to be all women. Tend one garden and you will birth worlds.
— Kate Braverman
I'm an artist. Gardening is my graffiti. I grow my art. I use the garden soil like it's a piece of cloth, and the plants and the trees, that's my embellishment for that cloth. You'd be surprised what the soil can do if you let it be your canvas.
— Ron Finley
I often think of it, that world inside a shell,
Its tiny civilization, at least for one, carved inside
A walnut, circa 1918. In the local museum, light fell
In a placid summer dusk. In the shell, a garden beside
A cottage and, nearby, the landscape’s only complication
A tree to sit under. Sometimes I even imagine
Sitting there, the tree’s cool shadow a fiction
Of eternity, the mind still translated by a simple tongue
Naming its world. Sure, the shell was someone’s need
For pastoral, the consolation of a slow, fruitful life
Far from politics and war. And sure, Adam’s seed
Was bound to end up in a failed world of strife.
But I’d lay odds that, whittling out that autobiography,
The shell seemed solid as fact, true as any analogy.
— Robert Cording, “A Cottage in the Country”
Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled —
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.
I want to believe I am looking
into the white fire of a great mystery.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing—
that the light is everything—that it is more than the sum
of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do.
― Mary Oliver
Count me in as a happy cottage dweller. The posts, the poetry were such welcome events in my email. I was so happy to feel less alone in my grappling with faith issues during a time of such deep disappointment in leadership at all levels. Thank you for all your efforts and willingness to share. Your new endeavor will be blessed. Thank you so very much!
Happy Anniversary! I have enjoyed your messages throughout this difficult year. I really liked your book "Gratitude".