The Incarnational Road

Advent this year comes with both a note of concern for our friend and president, Gil Bailie, as he continues to patiently endure health related limitations on his work – and an immense sense of gratitude for all our friends have enabled us to accomplish over the years through their prayers and support.

Gil’s continued dedication to his calling is an inspiration to all who have followed his career. He approaches each of his writing projects with a single-mindedness that reflects the importance and seriousness of the task he has been given. One of the signature elements in his eclectic style is to often use a poem as an interpretive foil to disclose deeper layers of meaning in a particular text. One of these poems is Any Journey by William Stafford:

When God watches you walk, you are
neither straight nor crooked. The journey
stretches out, and all of its reasons
beat like a heart. Coming back, no triumph,
no regret, you fold into the curves,
left, right, and arrive. You touch
the door. The road straightens behind you.
It is now. It has all come true.

Recalling this and many others besides has renewed our appreciation for Gil Bailie’s gift for illuminating in surprising ways the stories that make up our world. By focusing the light of the Gospel through the lens of René Girard’s mimetic theory many have found Gil’s reflections from Homer to contemporary events to be revelatory. It was Gil’s deft use metaphor that Girard noted early in their friendship that distinguished his work.

Today the work of the Cornerstone Forum continues this tradition in our Substack, podcasts, here on our website, and also with the Adeodatus initiatives for the renewal of Catholic liberal education. If you have found our efforts of value and want to see them continue, please assist us in our work in the coming year  by making a tax deductible donation online or mailing a check to the address below.

As we approach the celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas our Advent readings from Isaiah resonate with the Stafford poem declaring that in the wilderness of this world a highway will be found for those with a journey to make – where ‘not even fools shall go astray’ For such graces we are grateful.

Thank you for your interest, prayers and for helping to make our work possible!

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