Featured

Sunlight casting geometric shadows from window blinds onto a yellow wall beside a dark curtain.
Scraps and Ruins
Hope and action amid anger and oppression in Detroit.
Zito Madu
Essay
Renaissance painting showing philosophers and scholars gathered in a grand architectural hall.
The Home Is the School
What my children need is not to learn the Mayan number system, but to learn how to take out the trash.
Mary Townsend
Essay
Abstract painting of elongated, faceless figures standing in a row with vibrant colored robes.
Schooling Hope
Through the threat of the virus, ironically, we’ve discovered we are inextricably interrelated.
Stanley Hauerwas
Interview
Person riding a bicycle across a city street with sun shining through partly cloudy sky.
This Too Shall Pass?
Community matters the most in times of crisis.
Edwidge Danticat
Essay
Abstract painting with bold black lines, bright yellow, blue, orange, green, and red shapes and forms.
A Unique Time of God?
The revolutionary message of the Gospel, come what may.
William H. Willimon
Features
Dimly lit room with a vase of flowers silhouetted against a bright window with curtains.
Grieving Alone, Together
The best thing we can do for the bereaved is be present and bear witness to each other’s grief. How can we do that now?
Marilyn R. Gardner
Essay
Chain-link fence with barbed wire under a dark purple sky with stylized bird shapes.
Clean House
Life and death, fame and faith in prison.
John J. Lennon
Features

From the Editor

Close-up of green moss with thin stalks and orange tips against blurred blue and green background.
A Time for Regeneration
We must look clearly at what the coronavirus crisis reveals – and prepare for a renewal to come.
Peter Mommsen
From the Editor

Insights

Child in pink jacket crossing stream on log with adult man watching in forested rocky area.
Care, Pray, Trust, Obey
While there’s no guarantee of what will happen, God will be faithful to us in whatever the future brings.
Viewpoint
Black and white engraving of a haloed figure leaning toward another kneeling man beside a tree with two others nearby.
Apart Together
If physical contact keeps us human, what does the future hold?
Charles E Moore
Viewpoint
Calm lake with floating water plants and tree-covered hills under a clear blue sky.
Floodplain
What could be lacking in the sufferings of Christ? Only that which his hands and feet – us – have not yet experienced.
Matthew Loftus
Dispatch
Close-up of a stethoscope resting on a fabric surface in black and white.
Grateful for Each Breath
An Italian doctor shares his experience treating COVID patients.
Dispatch
Small mosque with white tower in a field of white flowers with mountains in the background.
Breaking the Fast in a Broken World
On the eve of Eid, Djibouti starts to emerge from lockdown.
Rachel Pieh Jones
Dispatch
Man in black shirt and woman in white shirt wearing masks standing near escalator with blurred train passing by.
Fellow Feeling in a Crisis
Where is the Christian readiness to give people in stressful situations the benefit of the doubt?
Dispatch
Abstract landscape with cracked earth in warm tones and distant blue hills under a pale sky.
The Hard Work of Conversion
Can the lessons learned in this pandemic help us tackle climate change?
Bill McKibben
Essay
Branches of an almond tree with white blossoms set against a vibrant blue background.
When the Church Doors Close
After a time of quiet we meet others in a different and fresh way.
Essay
Emergency ambulance with flashing lights speeding on street at night with blurred lights.
The Art of Dying
A New York City doctor on the questions colleagues and patients need to ask.
Lydia Dugdale
Interview

Web Exclusives

Child with short hair hugging an adult in a sweater on a swing, black and white photo.
When the Sickness Is Over
How do you explain the pandemic to a three-year-old?
Essay
Person with a walking stick looking at a distant blue-domed church by mountains under a cloudy sky.
The Book of Repose
Horizontal and Vertical Time in Laurus and in Lockdown.
Nathan Beacom
Essay
Historical street scene with crowds, trees, and buildings stretching into the distance.
Rejoicing in Apocalypse
Plagues as seen through Christian art.
Elizabeth Lev
Essay
Yellow, blue, brown, and teal clothespins clipped on a clothesline against a blurred natural background.
Learning to Stay
Can a frequently transplanted tree – or family – hope to flourish?
Jonathan Kirk Brooks
Essay
Four falcons flying against a blue sky, two holding prey in their talons.
Mother Peregrine
Keeping watch with fellow creatures.
Laura M. Fabrycky
Essay

Arts & Letters

Brown dog with red collar looking down from a stone window with blue wooden shutter on pink wall.
A Pain in the Navel
A pandemic exposes the gap between those who stay safe and those who never could.
Harold Muñoz
Dispatch
Illustration of three yellow ducklings hatching and walking near several white eggs with cracks.
Of Ducklings and Baby Fish
Signs of new life amid fear and disaster.
Uk-Bae Lee
Dispatch
Abstract painting with textured brown and beige background featuring intertwined circular rings in yellow and black.
Tinned Fruit in Times of Famine
Social media is second best – until it’s the only choice.
Essay
Star trails in the night sky above silhouetted tall trees in a forest.
The Rawness of the World
Two poems about seeing and speaking.
Poem
Dry tumbleweed resting on sandy desert ground with shrubs and mountains in the background.
By the Lights of Brush and Night
Two poems about illumination.
Poem
Two black and white joker playing cards on top of various colorful face cards.
Patience in Lockdown
A card game delivers messages from on high.
Fiction
Watercolor illustration of people at a graveside funeral with trees and gravestones nearby.
Philip Larkin’s “The Trees”
“The trees are coming into leaf / like something almost being said…”
Julian Peters
Comic
Two hands holding a spoon and a metal pot lid raised against a window.
Remember When…?
Recording true impressions for the day when we will reminisce and shake our heads in disbelief.
Essay
Painting of a field of vibrant red poppies against a dark background with green foliage.
Service from Suffering
Lessons in facing disaster from a lifetime of grief, prayer, hope, and love.
Fida Meier
Essay