Sunday Stories: A Year of Stories

Among the myriad stories I came to know in 2022, whether in books, films, television series, in music, or other forms, here are some of my favorites, the kind you might seek out for yourself.

Well, 2022, that’s a wrap.

Before we look back, and although I am decidedly not a fan of so-called resolutions, I would like to share with you my intention for the new year we’ve collectively begun:

In 2023, I intend to continue to cultivate wellness and strength in body, mind, and spirit, to be a non-anxious presence in the world, and to exhale joy into it whenever, wherever, and however I can.

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There. Now that I know where I’m headed, let’s look back at where we’ve been.

In our robust and, I’m pleased to say, growing community here at This Numinous World, these were…

The Top Ten Most Popular Posts of 2022

1. Venom and Vanity

2. A Room Called Remember

3. Birthday Ambivalence and Other Super Powers

4. Memoirs, Light the Corners of My Mind

5. Advent and Looking for Light

6. Gratitude and Glühwein

7. Don’t Push the River

8. Lux In Tenebris Lucet

9. Aluminum Mary

10. Just Sit

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IT’S A MAJOR AWARD!

The winners (I’ll be in touch directly by email, too) of the This Numinous World 2022 holiday giveaways are:

Jamie Janosz: signed and inscribed copies of my books The God Factor and Sin Boldly

Chris Hauser: a framed copy of any original image (i.e. created by me) from This Numinous World

YAY!!

Thank you for subscribing and for your continued support.

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These Were A Few of My Favorite Things

In no particular order and I’m certain I’m forgetting something, here are some of the best or at least most-affecting-to-me stories I heard in 2022…

Our dear Patricia, on the cover of December’s Harper’s Bazaar.

• Amsterdam (I don’t care how many crap reviews you’ve read, SEE IT. It’s extraordinary storytelling in every way. Thank God I finally decided not to listen to the critics and watch it over Christmas. WOW.)

• Bad Sisters. Good Lord. Hilarious, Irish, suspenseful, with one of the best worst villains in celluloid history and a cast of grown-up Irish women who, thank you baby Jesus, have been renewed for a second season.

• Descending the Mountain (This documentary filmed at a monastery in the Alps chronicles the scientists and mystics who were involved in a scientifically controlled experiment a number of years ago to see what the effects of psilocybin might be on master-level meditators. Whatever your interest in or opinion of psychedelics, it’s a gorgeous film and a fascinating story.

• A Pocketful of Happiness (Richard E. Grant, one of my most beloved actors, lost his wife of nearly 40 years in September 2021 and somehow managed to funnel his immense grief into a memoir of love and loss that is easily, hands-down my favorite read of last year. It’s gorgeous and heartbreaking. Read it or listen to Richard narrate it, as I did while Maury and I were on our 25th anniversary get away in the mountains in October.)

• Blowing the Bloody Doors Off and Other Lessons in Life (Michael Caine’s memoir was surprisingly profound. There are things he writes in the book that I have thought of every day since reading it over the summer.)

• Brassic (This UK dramedy series helmed by creator/star Joseph Gilgun is going into its fifth season has been one of my favorites for years and the newest season in 2022 did not disappoint. It’s rich ensemble cast never fails to make me laugh out loud and often brings me to tears in the same episode. A study in friendship and family, I wish more people were watching along with me. All but the most recent series are available in the States via Hulu.)

• Randy Rainbow. Full stop. And his memoir, Playing With Myself in particular. Funny. Touching. I’m now his mom Gwen Rainbow’s biggest fan.

• Billy Porter. Also full stop. And his memoir, Unprotected, is POWERFUL. One of the best I read this year and I read a lot of memoirs.

• My teacher and friend Brian McLaren’s latest, Do I Stay Christian? is one of his best and that’s saying something. Whether you are, were, are considering becoming, or thoroughly repelled by the idea of being a Christian, this book is for you. With his deep compassion and calm, Brian walks us through the process he walked through himself in answering the question in the title.

• Staged (Series 3, but all of them, really)

• Station 11 (which premiered at the end of 2021 into early 2022 and remains one of the most remarkable limited series I’ve ever seen)

• Better Things (final season, but go back and watch them all again, please. It really is the best television show ever. And I’m not exaggerating. I am EVANGELICAL about this program. Thank you, Pamela Adlon et al for such an enduring gift.)

• Florence Welch (live in concert at the Hollywood Bowl was an immersive storytelling/spiritual experience I shan’t forget any time soon and her latest album Dance Fever is exceptionally good)

• Patti Smith (her Substack, her Insta, her live tour with her band, her live tour reading from her new visual memoir A Book of Days, and her interview in the December issue of Harper’s Bazaar was is magic. She is magic.)

• Bono’s Surrender (whether you listen to the audiobook, read the hardback, or were lucky enough to snag a ticket to his small live tour, it’s a masterclass in storytelling and he remains a global treasure. Fight me.)

• STANLEY EFFING TUCCI. His documentary series Searching for Italy and his gustatorial memoir Taste are marvelous. The audio version of Taste is wonderful because you get to hear the Tooch purr for more than eight hours; the hard copy (an I assume digital versions as well) has his recipes. Get both if you can. His show and his book are absolutely two of my most favorite favorite things of 2022.

• The band Joseph. Three sisters from Portland—Allison and Meegan Closner and Natalie Closner Schepman. Oh. My. Goodness. They opened for The Shins at a tiny show at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur last summer. I had never heard of them. They walked on stage (just two of them at the time because the third sister had laryngitis) and blew my hair back. AMAZING. Both their harmonies and their storytelling. Especially their song “Room for You,” through which I ugly cried hearing it for the first time while standing in a cathedral of redwoods next to my son. Listen to the words.

I hope to God the world will make some room for you

I hope you see in colors that that world sees through

You know I'll be right here holding this dream for you

I hope to God the world will make some room for you

Even if we lose touch, we fall off the tracks

You gotta know that you’re still loved, even if you can't love back

Oh, this lonely aching feeling

Should never belong to you

Never belong to you

Oh, this lonely aching feeling

Should never belong to you

Never belong to you

I hope you never get so broke you don't know what to do

I hope you find someone who always sees the better side of you

You know that I’m right here holding these dreams for you

The curtain might be closing, but this show ain't through

Oh, this lonely aching feeling

Should never belong to you

Never belong to you

I hope the only hurt you feel comes from the truth

I hope to God the world will make some room for you

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I’ll leave you with Closner sisters and their prayer before New Year’s Day becomes the day after New Year’s Day.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing my work with others. Thank you for your kind support, in words, financially, spiritually, artistically, collaboratively.

I am immensely grateful for each of you who finds your way to this space.

Now, as we start anew, may we be brave and kind, never forgetting that we have not met yet everyone we will love, and we have not met yet everyone who will love us.

Much love from me,