From the Director’s Desk
It’s hard to believe that after our years of preparation—thinking about a constant myriad of details, large and small, for authors, exhibitors, and attendees—it’s finally only days until we will be welcoming so many of you here to Calvin’s campus for the 2026 Festival of Faith & Writing.
Safe travels from wherever you are journeying!
In last Saturday’s New York Times email digest, “The Morning,” Melissa Kirsch (who also curates the charming “The Good List” for the paper) reflected on how having visitors accentuates all the delights of one’s home place. That’s certainly been true for me over these last weeks and months: each time I have proofread our beautiful FFW program book, for example, I’ve been reminded again not only of the joy we took in researching, reading, and then selecting each writer, but of how very excited I am for the three days we have in store. I cannot wait for us to get to show off all that will be on offer, including sessions, plenaries, a film, a concert, pop-up bookstores, and a packed exhibition hall.
And of course, to get to host everyone who will be here. Kirsch reflects on the joys of preparing for guests and what fun it is to think about what can be done to make their visit memorable and special. The words of Frederick Buechner (himself present at Calvin in both 1992 and 2004) have often come to my mind as we plan:
The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you.
I’m so pleased, then, that we again have so many people to make our festivities complete!
I know it takes commitment to make time to gather, though. I grew up in a family in which the guiding principle was “if the church doors are open, we will be there.” That meant twice on Sundays, Wednesday nights, and whenever else programming was an offer. Typically, my parents, too, had some role, leading or hosting or making the coffee. By high school, I yearned to occasionally miss the Sunday night service. But when I protested, my mother would ask me what Biblical support I could provide to justify skipping. I rather prided myself on being a debater, able to gather compelling evidence, but I could never come up with anything that would answer her (somewhat mischievous) invocation of Hebrews 10:25: “forsake not the gathering of yourselves together.”
I’ve come to deeply appreciate the efforts my parents made to value community and to take the necessary steps to support and build it. Of course, many excellent and important ways exist to do that, but I do think that there is a special encouragement that comes when we are able to be in the same rooms together. What we can give each other, as that Hebrews’ passage frames as “spur[ring] one another on toward love and good deeds,” is very rare and worth cultivating.
Thanks for making the effort, if you are able. Thanks for your support in all the other ways that this community shows up.
Most of all: can’t wait to see so many of you real soon! Make sure and say hello when you get here.
