Reading as resistance
Sacred Reading Newsletter, February, 2026
I just listened to the latest episode of the podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, covering Jones’s 1993 book Hexwood, a portal fantasy/space opera/Arthurian novel. Yes, it’s complicated, far too complicated to try to summarize here…and it’s also a moving romance that explores the process of freeing oneself from a traumatic upbringing, breaking cycles of harm that have extended over generations. Jones manages to do all this in the space of one nominally YA adventure story with a completely bonkers plot structure. It’s a feat of genius you simply have to read for yourself to experience.
Anyway, the podcast hosts, Emily Tesh and Rebecca Fraimow, were discussing a passage near the end of the book, giving the point of view of a character who has been sustained through years of abuse by hearing inner voices: “Mordion with intense excitement learned that these voices came from people many light years away and that he was speaking with people whose voices had set out for his mind centuries before.”
Rebecca concluded, “I think what Mordion is describing is reading.” Reading as voices that speak to you across time and space, giving you an ethical understanding of the world that you could not get purely from your actual circumstances. No matter how horrendous those circumstances may be, this possibility of hearing other voices, imagining other possible worlds, is what gives you the chance to rise up inwardly, to find an ethical framework and share it with others.
I thought this was quite brilliant, and true. It’s one thing reading has provided for me, though not, of course, in such dire circumstances as Mordion experienced. Still, at times when I felt alone or lost or misunderstood, reading has given me a moral compass to hold on to, a thread of connection to follow back to other people who hear the same voices I do.
Mordion and the others who hear the same voices as he does find the strength to resist a corrupt regime, ending a legacy of violence. I confess to hoping our sacred reading practice, if we do it with honesty and love, can contribute to that kind of resistance.
Next meeting: February 21
Our next online meeting will be on Saturday, February 21, at 4 pm Central Europe Time (Zurich) - please convert for your time zone.
A Zoom link will be sent out 15 minutes ahead. Simply click to join.
Seasonal Study: Lent and Easter
The February 21 meeting will start off our next seasonal study series, which will be exploring themes of Lent and Easter. As usual, all are welcome, whatever your faith tradition (or none).
This year, I would like to share a project I’ve been working on for a while, re-visioning the psalms through an inclusive and nonviolent lens. I’ll be sending weekly passages for contemplation throughout Lent, Holy Week, and the weeks of Easter until Pentecost, as well as offering a few online meeting times during that period. More information to come on Ash Wednesday, February 18.
If you would like to opt out of the Seasonal Study emails, note that you can always do that via the Account Settings link found on the Newsletters page of the Sacred Reading Substack (web version, not the app). You’ll still receive the monthly newsletter and meeting links.
Practice Resource
The chaos of the world feels so overwhelming these days, I sometimes have to remember just to breathe. Sarah Bessey has offered a beautiful list of breath prayers for these times, in which I’m literally finding inspiration. Perhaps you will too.
I hope this new monthly newsletter format is helpful! If you have any feedback or suggestions, I’d always love to hear from you.