I was nervous as a child though now I’m not.
I used to dream. I used to dream a lot.
I don’t dream now. My dreaming days are done.
So I’m sitting in the room that is my life.
In the shadows are my children and my wife.
At the window is a person with a gun,
And he’s writing with his finger in the dust.
I have no desire to meet him, but I must.
I can’t pretend it hasn’t all been fun,
Or most of it, or some of it at least,
But this must be the time to call the priest.
I think my earthly race is almost run,
And God alone knows what it’s been about.
There are candles burning down and going out,
One by one by one by one by one by one.
—John Whitworth
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.
A Muslim Answer to Muslim Immigration
Modern America worships at the altar of youth and eagerly tracks in polls and market research its…
New Founders Wanted
It’s now 250 years since America declared her independence and embarked on the experiment of fashioning a…
Forget Odysseus. Aeneas Is the True American Hero.
Who is our Odysseus? Or more precisely, who is the most Odyssean hero of American film? Matt…