Dear Readers,

Another year has begun and as we find ourselves at the end of January, some of the new year’s promises may feel as if they are slipping away. Perhaps some of your own well-intentioned resolutions, goals, and ambitions for the year have already been jettisoned. 

It is in light of this yearly cycle of eager goal-setting followed by swift disappointment that we decided to craft an issue celebrating peaceful rootedness in one’s place, or Vocation. Wendell Berry asserts that it is through the “principle and practice of vocation” that we experience sanctity and reverence. These things don’t come through goal-setting and life optimization. It is relatively easy—can be escapist even—to dream and cast vision for the year ahead; it is harder to discern the tasks and lifestyles for which we have been created. 

In this issue you’ll find essays on education, living well in the expectation of death, and seeking to understand the path before us. Ryan Linkous draws similarities between writings of Theodore Roosevelt and C. S. Lewis to argue for how a Christian should steward her learning. Tessa Carman considers the poetry of T. S. Eliot as she ponders how to explain vocation to her young children. Finally, Nathan Beacom sat down with a priest of sixty years to discuss vocational discernment and commitment. 

You will also notice that this issue is different from those that precede it. Fare Forward is making a change for 2022. This calendar year we are departing from the quarterly structure. Each month we will release a smaller, themed collection of essays and poetry, and it will be available to anyone who would like to read it. Our current Patreon subscribers will receive a custom letterpress print to acknowledge our gratitude for their ongoing support. New tiers of patronage will roll out next month, with small gifts from Fare Forward attached to each level.

We are excited to release longform content more regularly this year, and are thankful that you have traveled with us this far. 

Fare forward,

Moriah Hawkins

Managing Editor