Wendell Berry was a poet, novelist, farmer, essayist, and cultural critic whose work challenged the modern West’s assumptions about progress, productivity, technology, consumption, and our relationship to the places and people around us. In today’s in memoriam episode, Hunter and Autumn consider Berry’s vision of place, community, meaningful work, limits, and the affection that motivates faithful care, asking what his work might help us see more clearly about our own lives. They discuss the personal impact of Berry’s writing, the relationship between his fiction and nonfiction, and how Christians might receive the wisdom of his work with an awareness of his continual wrestling with God over aspects of the gospel. May Berry’s undying belief that humans are given the physical world as a sacred space to steward continue to challenge and inspire readers for generations to come.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America’s Agrarian Past, Dies at 92, New York Times obituary, by Robert D. McFadden

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

The Art of the Commonplace by Wendell Berry

The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings by Wendell Berry

The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry

The Mad Farmer Poems by Wendell Berry

Sabbath Poems (Published in various volumes) by Wendell Berry

What is a sabbatical, and why is it valuable for pastors and for the church? Drawing on the biblical pattern of allowing the land to rest and be replenished, Autumn talks with pastors Adam Anglin and Dave Morlan about their recent sabbaticals—what they hoped God would do, what they discovered when they stepped away from the ordinary demands of ministry, and what practices and relationships replenished them. Seasons of rest promote longevity in pastoral ministry, making sabbatical not simply a gift to pastors but an investment in the long-term health and fruitfulness of the church.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin

Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis

The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath by Mark Buchanan

In his recent book The Desecration of Man, Carl Trueman asks what it means to be human and argues that modern Western culture has increasingly rejected the God-given nature, limits, and purposes of humanity. Hunter and Autumn discuss Trueman’s account of the social imaginary, technology, expressive individualism, and the rise of the Transgressor Hero, considering how these ideas have reshaped our understanding of our world, our bodies, and human nature. Trueman ultimately concludes that consecration, recovering the sacredness and purpose inherent in the Imago Dei and devoting ourselves to God, is the answer to desecration.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Desecration of Man: How the Rejection of God Degrades Our Humanity by Carl Trueman

The question of gambling, and sports betting in particular, encompasses more than simply whether placing a bet is explicitly sinful. It raises deeper questions about vice, desire, stewardship, and the effects our repeated habits can have on our hearts and formation. Autumn and Hunter consider the rise of ubiquitous sports betting and how it has changed our relationship to risk, money, and sports, as well as the broader effects of addiction, the degradation of sport itself, and the predatory nature of gambling. Finally, we ask how Christians can guard their hearts and pursue wisdom in a culture increasingly willing to accommodate and normalize vice.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Sports-Betting Boom Is a Moral Disaster by Matthew Walther

What Gambling Has Done to Sports—and to Us by Danny Funt

‘Everybody Loses’ tallies the steep costs of sports gambling by Alex Shephard

Sports Betting Has Become Too Prevalent for Christians to Ignore by Kyle Worley

Should Christians Bet on Sports? by Joshua Bremerman

Combating Vice by R. R. Reno

Philip Moore, a church planter in Paris, joins Autumn and Hunter on the podcast to share the story of Église de la Montagne (Church of the Mountain), which launched in September 2025. Philip shares how God led his family to the 5th District of Paris, what church planting near Sorbonne University looks like, and how ordinary practices like hospitality and simply becoming known in a neighborhood can open doors for the gospel.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality by Glen Scrivener

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by McChrystal, et al.

How should Christians respond when someone whose work has shaped their faith is later exposed as deeply flawed? In response to a listener’s question, Hunter and Autumn discuss how to evaluate a leader's legacy with both truth and grace, what role repentance and accountability should play, and why discernment is essential when considering the ongoing influence of morally compromised leaders.

The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked a repeated concern, captured in two recent Atlantic articles: Is technology making us less human? Hunter and Autumn consider why the Christian doctrine of humans in the image of God offers a richer answer than secular accounts of human dignity, and why our limitations, our work, and even our struggles may be essential to what it means to bear God's image in the world.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

There is Already a Word for the Deep Moral Failures of AI by Tyler Austin Harper

The Pope Doubles Down on the Beautiful Struggle by Gal Beckerman

What story best explains America's founding? In this episode, we discuss the competing narratives surrounding the Declaration of Independence, the Founders, slavery, and the nation's founding ideals. Drawing on a recent article by Jia Lynn Yang and the work of historian and professor Jill Lepore, we consider whether America can tell a truthful story about its past without abandoning the principles of liberty, equality, and self-government. We also ask how a Christian worldview helps us think faithfully about our nation's history.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Is There a Founding Story That Can Unify Left and Right? by Jia Lynn Yang

250 Years Later, Why We’re Still Fighting About Our Founding by The Daily

These Truths by Jill Lepore

Season 6 of The Vision for Life Podcast is here! Throughout the season, we'll explore current cultural issues, including artificial intelligence, IVF, psychedelics, gambling, and spirituality. We'll also spend time on themes of Christian formation, discipleship, and life with God, hear from guest authors, answer listener questions, and continue wondering together what it means to think and live biblically in our modern world.

The Vision For Life Podcast will be taking a six-week break, but return on July 29, 2026 for Season Six!