How long can two people stay together
with this in the news and that in the sky?
A change in love is a change in the weather.
As I have loved you . . . love one another,
said Christ, then disappeared. Why
can’t God and mortals stay together?
His absence so long—it feels like never.
Does to love, then, mean to leave? To die
suggest a lovely change in the weather?
Questions are common and kisses too rare.
Hold me, though the tectonic sheets fly
apart till two can no longer stand together.
The fault between us grows, but where
earth is moved seeds take hold. Let us try
to change our love, to change the weather.
—Jim Richards
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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