Walking on water, i.e., in the streets of Venice,
I read its history in churches—Gothic,
Baroque and Neoclassical, one marble
glory after another,
sometimes hearing the whisper of dead Catullus
reminding me that the sun that sets tonight
will rise again, but when my light has set
there will be no other.
And he is so convincing, I feel a deathly
chill from the dank canals, and all the beauty
around me seems the beauty of ancient graveyards
with new graves waiting
until I pass St Mark’s, a honeycomb church
of gold mosaics rising crowded as heaven
with rows of saints chanting that Christ is risen,
the grave invading.
—Gail White
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.
