Bereshit. Genesis.
“In the beginning…”
“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” (Genesis 1)
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1)
One. “On the first day, God created Light in the Darkness…”
the start of things. Is Time cyclical or linear? Thomas Aquinas said God experiences Time all at once, there is no beginning, there is no end, there is only ‘I Am.’ Pure Being. So what then is the beginning? And how does one start anything? Is there a Day One, or only a Return and an Again and a Now?
Yesterday (whatever that may mean) I thought about the beginning. I thought about the truth of the present as my second daughter was baptized - In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - a scattered rainbow (a promise, a covenant) dancing on her oiled head and glinting in her clear blue eyes. The stained glass saints sung a choir of light for little Lucia. This, if nothing else, must be thought of as a Beginning.
“Nothing is hopeless. We must hope for everything.”
Madeleine L’Engle
Listen to "Hope" from the soundtrack of "A Hidden Life"
Hope is the greatest of beginnings because it is the beginning of Faith. To have Faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
Hope is also an insistence on Beauty. It shouts out in the face of Death and Ugliness and Decay - this isn’t it. It is Puddleglum shouting to the evil witch that there is an Overworld, there is a Narnia and an Aslan and he’s going to believe that with all his heart even if all he ever sees is the darkness of that gloomy underworld.
“This then is our desert: to live facing despair, but not to consent.”
Thomas Merton
I want to invite you to rebellion. Because it takes a rebellious heart to look in the face of so much cynicism and believe in Wonder. But I do. I’m no Anne of Green Gables (though I aspire to be more like her) and more often than not you’ll find me bemoaning the state of the world, not celebrating it… but then… I hear Dvorak's New World Symphony… Or go on a countryside walk… or see my little baby’s first smile… and I believe all over again.
“We make idols of our concepts but Wisdom is Born of Wonder.”
St. Gregory the Great
Anyone who has followed Born of Wonder since its inception in 2020 knows that my goal (other than keeping my brain occupied and intellectually stimulated in a busy life with little ones) is to reclaim the narrative. I believe every single person is living a story - that they have a Cambell-like Hero’s Quest they are meant to go on - and that having a sacramental understanding of the world - one that infuses everything with the beauty of its Creator - helps us step into our true destiny. As Kate Winslet bemoaned in The Holiday, “you’re supposed to be the heroine of your own life!” Yes, you are!
In a time when claiming a victim status seems to be a badge of honor I want to reclaim the inherent goodness, uniqueness, and dignity of the human person, intended for great and beautiful and noble things in this vast and surprising world.
“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Do not be afraid.”
Frederick Buechner
I know you live in a crowded world of notifications and too many images, too much text. So why subscribe, why share? Well, I hope to distill some of the noise for you, not add to it. I hope to invite you into conversations surrounding Art, Theology, Family, Being, Joy. I hope this stills your mind and encourages you to go out into that big bright real world and write and create and debate. I don’t want to crowd your inbox or your playlists, I want to steady those swiping, frantic voices in your head. This sub stack is an extension of my blog and my podcast and I hope this proves a beneficial way for me to keep writing while building community.
I intend to do this through essays and curated recommendation lists. If you’re a free subscriber you can expect a monthly mini essay and a list of recommendations of books, music, articles, etc. that I have found soul-stirring or thought provoking.
If you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get two essays a month on anything from personal reflections about family life to how the original Hebrew in Genesis explains man and woman’s true identity to why Artificial Intelligence is threatening our very conception of Humanity. You’ll also receive a monthly 5 minute or so audio “sound escape” podcast episode featuring poetry and music that is liturgically and/or seasonally relevant.
Thank you for sharing this project. Thank you for hoping, for believing in Beginnings.
Slainte, cheers, all beautiful, good things,
Katie
"Hope is the greatest of beginnings because it is the beginning of Faith. To have Faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)." "Hope is also an insistence on Beauty." I needed these two quotes today, thank you. I look forward to reading more of your words.