May Day Note

Four Things

Dear All,

1.

I've been deep in a musical project which is just now in its final mastering back-and-forth. I'm excited about it. It's on a new map. It's a torrent. It's a funeral and a festival, strange, eucatastrophic or Isaianic. It is a new thing.

I'm also excited because my friend Chris Donald who oversees the Passio Substack and is the guitarist of Ritemaker, has thrown his musicianship in the ring. He has a power that wakes everything up. More still, my daughter brings percussion and vocals to be the mountaintop scene of the album.

And finally, I'm excited because it'll be pressed up as vinyl. I'm not sure I have enough vinyl-collecting listeners to make this work, but it feels like a mistake I’m ready to make.

There'll be some months of collating, designing and printing before it appears, but it's coming.

2.

I'll be putting on some online gatherings for paid subscribers in the months ahead. We'll be exploring various ideas threaded through my book The Messianic Commons. You don't need to have bought or read the book to take part. (It's a good yarn though. I don't not recommend buying and reading it). The first gathering will be Sun 25th May, 8pm BST (with recordings available after). The theme will be the reshaping of the religious imagination amid our present tumultuous unravelings. More details will follow. If you’d like access but can't afford to be a paid subscriber, send me a message.

3.

You may or may not know that I've been writing a series for the Passio Substack called Ulterior Lives on the politics of the Desert Hermits. I mention it partly because these pieces describe one compelling example of what a Community of Exits might look like (an idea explored in my recent series Rituals of Exit). The Ulterior Lives series is freely available and continues to unfold.

4.

Lastly, since I have been asked a good number of times what I mean by the term “messianic,” and since I've never found a concise answer close to hand, I'll be making a few posts on this subject up ahead.

Spring Blessings to you all

DBB