Featured

Two smiling women, one holding a newborn baby wrapped in a blue blanket.
Money-Free Medicine
What’s it like to practice medicine in a community where doctors don’t charge and patients don’t pay? Plough interviews two Bruderhof physicians.
Interview
Black and white side view of a person wearing a connected EEG cap with multiple wires.
Science and the Soul
How does the mind relate to the brain? What about the soul? This question is central to my professional life.
Essay
Detailed colored pencil drawing of two hands gripping each other’s wrists against a light background.
What’s a Body For?
My body is the exterior expression of that interior personal reality that Scripture names the “heart.”
Essay
Vintage family photo of a father with two young boys on a floral couch, a doll, and a teen girl portrait.
Let Me Stand
My sister died of an opioid overdose. But first, she forgave me.
Essay
Scissors cutting a photo of three children, focusing on their feet, eyes, hair, and mouth.
Begotten Not Made
What are we to think about the possibility of genetically engineering future generations?
Essay
Adult hands gently cupping the tiny feet of a newborn baby against a black background.
Perfectly Human
My daughter Cerian’s life ended an hour before she was born. She taught me so much about beauty, worth, and the gift of being.
Sarah C. Williams
Personal History

Insights

Young woman reading 'Charlotte's Web' book while sitting next to an older woman speaking outdoors.
Patient Perspective
I truly believe this form of community is an expression of the kingdom of God, of how he wants us to care for one another.
Essay
Elderly person in a red plaid shirt and beanie sitting wrapped in a fur blanket near a rustic stove.
Adirondack Doctor
I am an old-school family physician who has spent the last thirty-eight years in the center of upstate New York’s Adirondack Park.
Essay
The End of Medicine
Christians should oppose euthanasia. But we also need to start showing real concern for those who feel they have no other option.
Reuben Zimmerman
Essay
Man in black shirt with hands raised, standing in a worn, rustic room with peeling walls and a niche.
All Sorts of Little Things
A dialogue of compassion, a binding of ourselves together in love, might be all we have left.
Stephanie Saldana
Cecile Massie
Essay
Three vintage portrait photos of women from mid-20th century, each smiling or posing in period clothing.
The Measure of a Life Well Lived
What is the measure of a life well lived? Clare Stober asked herself this question at her father’s death, and then the deaths of three close friends seemed to hold out an answer.
Clare Stober
Essay
Elderly man wearing glasses, a black cap, and a dark suit with a red tie, smiling gently.
Beyond Racial Reconciliation
As I come closer to the end of my journey, I am aware that community development can only take us so far – because this is a gospel issue.
John M Perkins
Reading
Close-up of Jesus wearing crown of thorns with tears on his face against red background.
Christ the Physician
“For because we could not come to the physician, he has vouchsafed to come to us himself.”
Augustine of Hippo
Reading
Black and white side profile portrait of a woman with hair tied back in a bun.
On Being Ill
Always to have sympathy, always to be accompanied, always to be understood would be intolerable.
Inklings
Abstract impressionist painting of red and pink roses with green leaves on textured canvas.
On Eternal Health
A deaf fifteenth-century nun searches for the meaning of suffering and infirmity.
Teresa de Cartagena
Inklings
Colorful painting of purple rocks and a spiky desert plant under a blue sky with mountains.
Our Task Is to Live
We dare not give up on those who are sick and dying, for it belongs to our human dignity and calling to nurture life.
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
Inklings

Web Exclusives

Black and white photo of a smiling adult holding a sleeping child close outdoors.
Repenting for Healthcare Inequality
“Can you please help me?” The woman on the other end of the phone was crying. “I’m twenty-four weeks pregnant, and I’ve been having terrible headaches.”
Marilyn R. Gardner
Close-up of an adult hand gently holding a baby's tiny hand.
In Defense of Medical Conscience Rights
The principles of liberty and tolerance require freedom of the medical conscience.
Close-up of a human eye overlaid with colorful capsules and pills, blending health and vision themes.
The Medicated Soul
For mental illness, a Christian doctor prescribes prayer, pills – and a big dose of community.
Matthew Loftus

Arts & Letters

Painting of a woman in an orange hood holding wheat, with a dark red and black background.
To Be Plucked by a Strange or Timid Hand
This grip of patience, after the scythe / cuts in. Most have dropped – relieved – / into gathering arms – brusque, adequate, / but this foolish remnant holds their roots.
Poetry
A painting of three people lying close with eyes closed or gazing upward in neutral tones.
Carry Me
My desire is to make present and visible people who have been culturally marginalized, people who many view as profoundly “other.”
Another View
'Before the Battle' watercolor title with barren trees and muddy battlefield in gray and brown tones.
Siegfried Sassoon’s “Before the Battle”
A watercolor illustration of Siegfried Sassoon’s “Before the Battle.”
Julian Peters
Comic
Painting of an elderly man with gray hair, glasses, and a thoughtful expression, resting his chin on his hand.
Readers Respond: Issue 17
Josiah Royce and a Beloved Community built on Christ. Seeing neighbors in those beyond our neighborhoods, and even borders.
Forum