Or/And: Poems

In his famed treatise Either/Or, Christian existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard suggests that our basic human condition is one of choice and freedom. But what about when we struggle to discern the right path forward, when we stumble between contradictory desires, when we want everything? Such insatiability - which the ancient Greeks called pleonexia - leads to suffering and sorrow for ourselves and others, not to mention the earth we call home. But what about when either/or thinking becomes too rigid in its limits? What about those moments when we see scarcity instead of the many possibilities that abound, when fear keeps us from giving and receiving our full share?

This book of poetry is an exploration of those times when it is necessary to make either/or choices as well as other times when, even if only briefly, we are able to echo Richard Rohr in affirming, Yes, And. It is a story of stumbling in darkness and seeking light, of succumbing to sinfulness and facing consequences, of desiring deeply and bumping up against limits. It’s about addiction and recovery, justice and mercy, redemption found through friendship and community. It’s about seeking ways to open doors and tear down walls. Ultimately, it is about the divine grace that occasionally manages to expand our possibilities, transforming us into vessels of boundless compassion.