A World Ablaze: Reflections on Our Summer Theme
In her famous epistolary novel Gilead, Marilynne Robinson’s protagonist John Ames writes in his Pentecost sermon that ‘The Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation, and it turns to radiance—for a moment or a year or the span of a life.’1 This vision, he implies, is always partial: something eventually recedes, and, in perceiving the world, ‘no one would know it had anything to do with fire, or light’. Yet at the end of his life, Ames affirms that, despite—or perhaps because of—this double vision, everywhere has potential to ‘shine like transfiguration.’ ‘You don’t have to bring a thing to it’, he says, ‘except a little willingness to see.’
In May, we asked writers to consider the many connotations of Pentecost: images of fiery revelation, meeting places between Creator and created, spaces where something fresh is bodied forth, where embers are (re-)kindled, vision is transformed, something transcendent is poured out, or sites of destruction are revived. The articles chosen for publication bear witness to the multifaceted nature of interpreting such an expansive event. Our writers focused on themes of fire’s purification or destruction, tensions of darkness and light, or transfiguration and revelation. In reading, we’ve been reminded afresh of the prismatic nature of Pentecost: how its descent enlivens humankind with the presence of God, allowing wholly redemptive Light to be flung across the earth through manifold expressions. The art we study affirms, reveals, or simply interrogates this reality—and these articles attest to that very fact.
That’s a Wrap: Looking Back
As the days grow shorter and summer crawls to an end, our team at Transpositions is looking back at the rich range of articles we’ve published since reentering the online world in May. As a brand new editorial team, we hoped that our first call for submissions—A World Ablaze—might yield a few thoughtful pieces. We were therefore thrilled with the abundance of submissions received—not just with the quantity of pieces, but with the breadth and depth of quality therein.
While our summer series is over, you can browse our website’s recent posts to read all the articles published in response to the theme, A World Ablaze. And head on over to our Substack to read an extended reflection from our team on the rich range of articles published.
Looking Forward: Autumn 2026
As we get ready for a new term and gear up for a change in seasons, we’re looking forward to a promising autumn series. We’ll offer more details in coming days, but are excited to share that we’ll be partnering with the good folks over at the Art as Revelation project to share essays from their recent conference, Religion from the Outside. These essays explore the richness of the Christian aesthetic tradition and its related language, imagery, and symbols in non-Christian or post-Christian contexts, asking what happens when this symbolic tradition is redeployed in new artistic, political, or cultural spheres.
Want to write for us in the future? We’ll be sharing our next call for submissions in November. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to hear from you.
