THE WAY BACK TO OURSELVES
Literary Journal
The Way Back to Ourselves Literary Journal Presents:
COMING FALL 2024…
M A S T H E A D:
Editors: Sarah Steele, Kimberly Kralovic, and Ashley Whittemore
Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Kimberly Phinney
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives might be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
MAY YOU HEAR THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS SPEAK INTO YOUR SOUL.
Listen to the poets of the Spring Collection: Renaissance read their work with our NEW podcast, The Poetry Corner from The Way Back Podcast, hosted by Edward L. Holmes II and Deidre Braley.
A Butterfly’s Advice and Other Poems
In her three poems, Grace Shaw, invokes a Mary Oliver-like spirit as she meditates on nature and its spiritual gifts.
The Artist
In his moving short story, “The Artist,” Zaher Alajlani, tells an unlikely revival story through the life of Cristian, a lovelorn youth.
To the Daffodil Growing in the Shade of the Cypress Tree and Other Poems
In her poetry, Carreen Raynor explores themes of growth, survival, and beauty through nature.
To Dive Again and Other Poems
In her poems, Alexis Ragan explores the depths of the human experience and God’s saving grace.
April Crowns and Other Poems
In his poetry, Steven Searcy explores fatherhood and faith through the beauty of nature and innocence.
Finding Your Worth Through Awakening
In her essay “Finding Your Worth Through Awakening,” Kimberly Kralovic deep dives into mental health and anxiety and shares the redeeming message of God’s rescuing.
Loss to Gain
In her poem “Loss to Gain,” Ashley Whittemore learns there is great and unexpected beauty in loss.
I Stay and Other Poems
In her poetry, Julie Priebbenow writes about the complexities of life and death and her ultimate choice of faith over suffering.
The Orange Tree
In her poem “The Orange Tree,” Tiana Minks uses the evocative metaphor of an orange tree to communicate the human experience of depression in light of a God who saves.
From Life to Death to Life and Other Poems
In her poetry, Sarah Steele writes about revival, prayer, and journeys through evocative nature and color imagery.
Mother
In her poem “Mother,” Laurie Widmer Hess explores the spiritual complexities of motherhood.
Blood and Wild Raspberries
In her essay “Blood and Raspberries,” Hannah Doorenbos writes about finding God in the hardest places.
Back from the Dead and Other Stories
In her essays, Erika Clay poetically tackles mental health struggles and other complexities one faces with identity.
Rekindled
In her poem “Rekindled,” Stephanie Nygaard captures God’s delivery and light in a season of difficulty.
Mountain Laurel Living
In her poem “Mountain Laurel Living,” Bethany Peck writes about loss, suffering, and faith through the metaphor of the Mountain Laurel.
Cat Nap Revival and Other Poems
In her poetry, Elizabeth Hudgens writes about longing, perseverance, and revival through creative metaphors.
Holy Spirit, Help
Nathaniel Evans poem, “Holy Spirit, Help,” reads like a fervent prayer, as he asks God’s Holy Spirit to help him through his faith walk and the difficulties of this life.
Infinite Joy and The Common Life
In his two devotionals, “Infinite Joy” and “The Common Life,” J. Michael Dyck mediates on what makes a good life in Christ. Citing C.S. Lewis and personal insights, his words call us back to a quieter life in a world that has gone loud.
Haikus for Hadley
In “Haikus for Hadley,” poet Kimberly Phinney teams up with her young daughter to write four heartwarming haikus about motherhood and longing through infertility.
Breakthrough and Silence
In her poems, “Breakthrough” and “Silence,” Penelope Guzzo explores the complex feelings one experiences during existential searching and difficult relationships. For Penelope, it is only when she rests in God that she finds a way through the challenges.
Start your journey.
It starts today— in the small steps you take, the hands you hold, the prayers you say, the art you make, and the hard things you conquer… The way back isn’t as far as you think.
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