The Magazine
The Mockingbird is a nonprofit print magazine that seeks to connect the message of God’s grace with the concerns of everyday life. By our definition, grace is dynamic, unmerited, and expansive; we hope the range of voices in this journal reflects that understanding. We welcome writing from all perspectives in an effort to express, in surprising and down-to-earth ways, the freedom that is central to our belief. Our pages have featured award-winning illustration, poetry, and writing from novelists, priests, theologians, psychologists, armchair experts, and beyond.
Someone is missing, and we don’t know where. Someone has committed a crime, and we don’t know who. The famed filmmaker David Lynch once described the allure of such setups: “A mystery is a HUGE THRILL. That there’s more going on than meets the eye is a thrilling thing.” In a 2005 book surveying his life’s work, Lynch explains, “A mystery is like a magnet. Whenever there is something that’s unknown, it has a pull to it. If you were in a room and there was an open doorway, and stairs going down, and the light just fell away, you’d be very tempted to go down there.”
Mysteries are things to be inhabited and explored — check all the dark corners for clues. If the writer is playing fair, everything will add up in the end. But until that grand denouement, when all the pieces slide into place, you have a puzzle on your hands. You’re held in suspense until the full picture is revealed.
To the perplexing puzzle of existence, Christianity posits an answer — albeit, in itself, a mysterious one. The Answer has a fleshly body, is born into grime and obscurity, dies the death of a criminal, and rises, miraculously, to new life. What do we make of this strange revelation, what Paul coins “the mystery of Christ”? Of this Answer, who is at once an emphatic yes to all of God’s promises, but who also leaves us with more questions to ask? He resounds through history into the minutiae of daily life while remaining a cosmic ineffability; He is a merciful, ever-present companion whom we sometimes suspect is not there at all. The mystery of God, in this sense, can feel less like a magnet than a problem. It often skirts uncomfortably close to confusion or obstruction — a curtain beyond which we’re not permitted to see.
In these pages, we go right up to that curtain. We try, with God’s help, to pull it back. Collaborating with contributors from a variety of backgrounds and fields of expertise, we aspire to offer a glimpse of the cosmic goings-on. With the theologian Ben Despain, we discuss whether such a metaphorical curtain exists at all — spoiler: Despain thinks not. We talk about the everyday mysteries of grief, illness, pregnancy, and magic shows. With Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, we dive into the peculiar religious life of the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie. Former Mockingbird editor Ethan Richardson makes a triumphant return with an essay about that classic glass-eyed Lieutenant Columbo. We also have the privilege of publishing a stunning folio of four poems by the Pulitzer Prize-winning former Poet Laureate of the United States, Charles Wright — all gifted to us from his own typewriter. In interviews, the philosopher James K.A. Smith lays out a warm, capacious definition of mystery, while author and therapist Kobe Campbell discusses the mysterious process of emotional and mental healing. And that’s just the beginning. With essays by Kate Lucky, Todd Brewer, Adam Morton, Lynda Kong, Dave Nienhuis, Bruce Shaw, Joshua Burdette, Arthur Aghajanian, and poetry by Cole Arthur Riley, John Casteen, Julie Moore, Brian Volck, and DS Martin, this is one of our most packed issues yet.
From every angle we can think of, we explore the mystery of faith: how it succors, how it vexes, how it signifies God’s majesty, and how God comforts us in spite of life’s ever-present mysteries, which too often feel cruel to the sufferer needing a Word from on high. The denouement is never underwhelming—but always thrilling.
To quote David Zahl, from the sermon which serves as this issue’s closer, “God is not a puzzle to be solved.” God is, however, a light that shines in the dark. So have no fear. The basement door is open. The dark is waiting.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ESSAYS
Geghard Monastery: A Sanctuary of Divine Serenity | Arthur Aghajanian
Agatha Christie, A Very Elusive Christian | Sarah Hinlicky Wilson
Johnny, Take a Walk with the Crucified God | Todd Brewer
Poetry’s Encounter with the Mysteries of the Sacred | Lynda Kong
Death, Grief, and Magical Thinking | Joshua Burdette
The Mystery of the Divine Trinity | Henri de Lubac
Who Will He Be | Kate Lucky
A God You Can Dance Before | Adam Morton
Coming to TermsIllness, Mystery, and At-One-Ness with God | Dave Nienhuis
Just One More Thing…The Oddball Genius of Lieutenant Columbo | Ethan Richardson
The Impossible Made Possible: Magic and the Grace of Not Knowing | Bruce Shaw
INTERVIEWS
Notes from the Cosmic Sea | Interview with James K.A. Smith
Through a Glass Darkly: Finite Creatures Discerning the Infinite | Interview with Ben Despain
Letting the Worst Version of Yourself Be Loved | Interview with Kobe Campbell
POETRY
Last Word to the Setting Sun, Cabin Fever, Bees, Ancestors | Charles Wright
Watching Sans Soleil | John Casteen
On Vanishings and Survival | By Lynda Kong
Osprey | D.S. Martin
Hesperis Matronalis & Universe | Julie Moore
Meeting Place & Beginning to Pray | Brian Volck
LISTS & COLUMNS
Prayers for the Doubting | Cole Arthur Riley
Dear Gracie| Sarah Condon
Fearsome Creatures of Folklore | Blake I. Collier & Ian Olson
The Confessional
From the Mockingbird Glossary | Simul iustus et peccator
Will Wonders Ever Cease? Reflections on the Presence of Mystery in Culture | Joseph Nooft, Abby Farson Pratt, Joseph Nooft
Love in the Ruins: Nine Classic Film Noirs That Won’t Leave You in Total Despair | Benjamin Self
SERMON
Blessed Perplexity | David Zahl
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THE MYSTERY PLAYLIST
Listen to the Issue 24 playlist on Spotify.
Looking for more? Check out our online samples here.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
A four-issue subscription is $60. As our emphasis on grace might indicate, we’re terrible at hitting deadlines, but you can expect about 3 issues per year. To subscribe to The Mockingbird, sign up here or become a monthly giver. All monthly donors to Mockingbird receive a complimentary subscription.
CONTACT
To send pitches, promotional copies, or interview requests, write to us via email at magazine@mbird.com.
You can also send mail directly to our office at:
Mockingbird
100 West Jefferson Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
