In the unsigned editorial below, our team suggests that the one word that best describes how our readers, writers, and editors feel right now is overwhelmed. I know this to be true on some level both because of my own stress levels and because of the thoughtful and candid emails many of you send me.
How do we respond to so many troubling shifts in US government and policy? One option is to speak and create prophetically. In this regard, while most of us don’t have a platform the size of a Super Bowl halftime show, we might take cues from hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar. Below is a helpful primer that walks through some of the political symbolism and spiritual stakes of Lamar’s performance. Another way to respond to these times is to engage with local politics—one small step at a time, according to our new editorial essay.
Scroll down for more great new content, including our video of the week: a chat with Mac Loftin, who discusses his recent piece about the demons in US politics. Plus an essay about joining the choir, commentary on the new Nosferatu film, and more.
Jon Mathieu Email me: On a scale of 0–10, how overwhelmed are you feeling? Click to schedule a Friday lunch chat with Jon Click to find Jon on (X/Twitter alternative) Bluesky
“The antidote to inertia might be to embrace a phrase attributed to Carl Jung, popularized by recovery communities, and featured in a song from the Disney movie Frozen 2: Do the next right thing.”
Mac Loftin chats with Jon about the theology of William Stringfellow, who saw the demons in Revelation as institutions and abstractions that take captive their own so-called leaders.
“The battle between good and evil can’t be waged until a prior battle is settled, that between the ascending power of rational calculation and modern science and older forms of ‘alchemy, mystic philosophy, the occult.’”
