One Quote + One Note + One Question January 18, 2024
One Quote
But there was also divinity / hidden everywhere, invisible.
-Adam Zagajewski, from “A Provincial Roman Town”
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One Note
Time has been strange for me for the past week or so. Too many things of life have been happening. So many things of life have broken and are breaking. People are breaking down. People I love are navigating difficult decisions and circumstances. People I love have come too close to death, and I tell myself—we tell one another—all of us are always too close to death, aren’t we?
Time changes when the possibility of death feels nearer, even though it’s just as near as it’s ever been.
But if divinity is hidden everywhere, it’s hidden in time, too. Right? Divinity is here, back there, up yonder, around the corner. The God of All Time is inside this strangeness of time that holds the broken and breaking, the brushes with death, both seen and unseen.
Until next time,
Charlotte
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One Question
How does time feel different during a crisis?
Charlotte Donlon’s writing and work are always rooted in helping her readers, audience, and clients notice how art and other good things help them belong to themselves, others, the divine, and the world. Charlotte is the founder of Thoughtful Books Etc.™, One O’Clock Central, Spiritual Direction for Writers® , Spiritual Direction for Belonging™, and Parenting with Art™. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Her next book on Spiritual Direction for Writers will be published by Eerdmans in 2024 or 2025. Charlotte’s essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a certificate in spiritual direction. To receive Charlotte’s latest updates, news, announcements, and all kinds of good things, subscribe to Thoughtful Readers Etc. + Five Good Things.