Intro
This is Time's Corner, an occasional newsletter by Christian Leithart. I’m co-founder of Little Word and editor of Good Work magazine. By day, I teach, and by night, I edit this newsletter.
I won’t apologize for the long delay between newsletters. Other, more important things were due.
That’s my dad with my second son, born on Holy Saturday. God is good.
Below you’ll find updates from various quarters, a short essay with lots of photos, a bouquet of labeled links, some upcoming events, and a list of what I’ve been reading/watching/listening to.
Updates
Good Work
The little zine I edit has had its hull scraped and painted and has set sail on the seas of fundraising. Issue 4 is ready to go (you probably still have a few days to subscribe). If you want to see Issue 5, however, you’ll need to convince your friends to help us make that happen. Video below.
Little Word
The latest news from Little Word is a few months old: We published a short guide to the liturgical service. (It’s on Amazon!) As always, big projects in the works. As always, progress is slow.
Of Knights and Pilgrims
David Grubbs and I recently finished recording the final episode of our podcast on the Faerie Queene. If you haven’t listened but want to, I recommend starting with the first episode.
We may continue into Book II and follow the adventures of Sir Guyon, Knight of Temperance, so familiarize yourself with the story now! (The exclamation point is to show you it’s imperative.) Canon Press has a version with modernized spelling. Also, keep an eye on this edition. It may yet see the light of day! (That one is for emphasis.)
And finally…
Now for the buried lede. I finally finished the play I’ve been working on. It’s called All the Angels Laughing, and it’s a comedy about Martin Luther and his wife Katie. If you’re interested in reading it, let me know.
Right On Time
I know nothing about gardening. Yet tomatoes, okra, carrots, herbs, blueberries, and persimmons are growing in my yard.
It’s all thanks to instructions from my father-in-law, my neighbor and his dad, Youtube, and a big, floppy, paperback book called Garden Wisdom and Know-how.
I feel like a kid learning to ride a bike: “Put your feet here. Hold these. Squeeze this. Keep moving and you won’t fall.” I don’t understand what I’m doing, but that’s not the point. The point is to follow directions. Call it the poll-parrot stage, if you want.
Fortunately, gardening is a cinch. Pop a seed in a sunny spot of ground and dribble water on it for a few weeks and, behold! a vegetable. You can obsess over pH levels and soil consistency and inches of rain, but you don’t have to. If the soil’s dry, water it. If the plant looks healthy, leave it alone.
I’m being facetious, but still, working with living things, whether plants or animals, is a constant reminder that the world functions outside of your control and even your understanding.
Two years ago we planted a persimmon tree in our front yard. At first we watered it with monk-like devotion, but eventually, we left it to fend for itself. A few months later, wonder of wonders, I found the branches holding three pieces of fruit the size of walnuts.
Two fell off before ripening, but one hung on. Over the weeks it got larger and oranger, and every day I pressed the fruit’s stem to see whether it was ready. Finally, I twisted it off, proudly displayed it to the family, and cut it into tiny apple-like slices. My son ate five or six and demanded more.
It’s magic. Plant a tree, add water, receive fruit.
Links
There are a bunch of new posts, mostly quotes, on my blog
A few Substack recommendations: Joy Moore, Jamie Soles, and my own father
Podcast-wise, you can listen to Alastair Roberts talk to me and John Ahern about Josef Pieper’s Leisure, the Basis of Culture
A Twilight-Zone-inspired radio play I wrote years ago found new life thanks to Silence & Starsong
Upcoming
Immanuel Reformed Church is sponsoring the Hyink Strings in a concert at Woodlawn Theatre on May 12. Not only does this family band play all manner of stringed instruments, they compete in off-road unicycle races. Seriously.
The Theopolis Ministry Conference will be in Birmingham on July 14-15. Register here.
Up To
Reading: The Boys in the Boat
Watching: Slings and Arrows, a Canadian TV show about a struggling theater/theatre company that specializes in Shakespeare. The plot of the first season revolves around Hamlet, the second, around Mac-you-know-who, and the third, around King Lear. It’s tons of fun, especially if you’ve spent time with Shakespeare or in a theater company.
Listening: Thanks to Bluey, my son is a huge fan of Gustav Holtz’s “Jupiter.” We listen to it every night at bedtime.
About
I’m Christian Leithart, a writer and teacher living in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m not active on social media, but you can read my blog here. Use the button below to share this issue of Time’s Corner, if you so desire. Thanks much for reading.
Where and when does Jupiter appear in Bluey? Cool!
Would love to know your thoughts on The Boys in the Boat!