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My plane was late”I’ve missed the evening Mass;
So now I take a walk and try to pray.
The sky is vast, a dome of marbled glass
Where shoals of vapor slowly drift away.

The first few stars ride in the rifts of blue.
Again I wonder at the grand conception
That must have so intoxicated You
At the world’s indeterminate inception.

And now I breathe the atoms of the air
That Jesus gasped in words so long awaited
Since the stars shaped them in their fiery glare
To be the sound of “It is consummated.”

And this warm flesh that breathes God’s dying breath
Is no less of His substance, or His death.

Dear Reader,

You have a decision to make: double or nothing.

For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.

In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.

So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?

Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
GIVE NOW