“I only desire to find out knowledge . . . which may instruct me how to die well and how to live well.”
—Michel de Montaigne
“Life Skills”—the mindless high-school class that knocks
Into our callow heads the way to do
The forms we face whenever something new
Requires our consent: a job, some stocks,
Our wedding vows, the keys to office locks,
Insurance claims, a condo with a view.
Just check right here and sign right there—you’re through.
Hearse drivers see who’s learned to fill a box.
New forms will school survivors when we die:
Interment forms and probate forms and more.
Few experts in death’s forms will hear the cry
Rabboni! echoing through a tomb’s wide door:
The voice of Mary, stunned to see the face
Of One no scribe could ever hold in place.
—Bryce Christensen
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.
