Brother Lionel: A Short Story

Two years ago, I posted a poem about a visit to the crypt of St. Bride’s Church in London. It’s known as the Journalists’ Church because of its proximity to Fleet Street. There are no newspapers left on Fleet Street; they all moved to the suburbs decades ago. But the history persists, and so does the church.  

That visit inspired a short story, published today in the Autumn 2026 issue of Cultivating. The story is “Brother Lionel,” and it’s a story about forgiveness. It joins articles, poems, and similar contributions by 19 other writers on the general theme of "renewing forgiveness." 

 

St. Bride’s Church is famous for its tiered steeple, the inspiration for wedding cakes worldwide. The crypt below the church has a museum, a short walk of artifacts, and this chapel.

Some Monday Readings - Oct. 26, 2026

  

“Louisiana Fairytale” – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Anarchist Notebook – Alan Jacobs.

 

Of Course It’s the Screens. Who Are We Kidding? – Lincoln Michel at Counter Craft.

 

What Ten Thousand Commandments and Flock Cameras Can’t Accomplish – Greg Sullivan at Sippican Cottage.

 

The Dogs of Old London – Spitalfields Life.

 

Lebanon’s only church-bell maker on keeping a 300-year family tradition alive – William Christou at The Guardian.

 

The Archbishop of Canterbury (1953) and Artificial Intelligence – A London Inheritance.

 

Little by Little Actions – Terry Whalin at The Writing Life.

The feeding of the crowds

After Luke 9:10-17 

As the crowds follow

and swarm, the day

wanes. The place is

desolate and unsettled,

offering no provision

of food. Five loaves

and two fish to feed

thousands, the disciples

say, do we go into town

for food? How do we

feed them all? He knows,

he knows what the disciples

do not. Have them sit,

he says, in groups of fifty.

He prays the blessing.

He breaks the loaves

for the disciples to serve,

and the crowd is fed, and

the hunger of the crowd

is satisfied, and twelve

baskets of pieces remain.

 

Photograph by Lain Man Nung via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

When the Fall Gets Busy, Anchor Your Family in Church – Kristin Couch at The Palest Ink.

 

Sleep as an Act of Faith – Tim Challies.

 

The Mercy of a Long Wilderness – Vaneetha Rendall Risner at Desiring God.

 

What Draws Me Back: 3 Arguments for the Faith on the Days I Doubt – Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition. 

Saturday Good Reads – Oct. 17, 2026

The (unnamed) writer at A London Inheritance had a post this week about taking a walk in London. She calls pat of the “Rocque Ring,” and it forms the boundary of London in 1745. It begins at the Blue Coat School, located on Caxton Lane at the corner of Buckingham Gate, goes past Buckingham Palace, and then moves up Constitution Hill to Hyde Park. Our hotel – the one we’ve stayed at six times since 2013, is a short block from the Blue Coat School. This was “our neighborhood,” close to Victoria, near the Wellington Guards Barracks, and two blocks from the Palace and St. James’s Park. We could, and often did, walk to Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, and even Westminster Abbey. And we could, and often did, run into all the protests that are a daily occurrence in London. 

Englishman Henry Oliver, who writes about books, found himself in the Middle South of the United States – Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. And he discovered that there’s nothing boring in America. 

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

Freedom Around the Globe: A World History of the American Revolution by Sarah Persall – review by Timothy Symington at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

Passing Revolutionary History on to the Next Generation – Jim Sanderlin at Real Clear History.

 

The Revolutionary Battle of Valcour Island – Dan McLaughlin at National Review.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Belloc vs. Tolkien: Two Views of Anglo-Saxon England – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

You Are Formed by What You Listen To; You Are Formed by What You Read – E.J. Larow at After Progress.

 

British Stuff

 

Rules, London’s Oldest Restaurant, Given to the National Trust – Jonathan Thomas at Londontopia.

 

Poetry

 

“Autumn,” poem by John Clare – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

The River & The Sea – poem by Rohini Sunderam at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Sweet Music – poem by Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

 

“Caedmon’s Hymn,” poem by Caedmon – Adam Robets at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Life and Culture

 

A Farmer’s Alphabet – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.

 

His Love – Skye Peterson

Painting: An Old Man Reading, oil on panel (1729) by Willem van Mieris (1662-1747).

The crowds

After Luke 9:10-17 

The news of the healing,

of the teaching, spread;

the crowds followed.

Wherever he was,

the crowds followed,

to be healed as much

as to listen to his words,

which, they learned,

was the same thing,

one a physical healing,

one a spiritual healing.

When he withdrew 

to teach his disciples,

the crowds followed.

At the town by the sea,

the thousands followed

to the hillside, and he

welcomed them and

spoke to them.

They listened, and

they were healed.

 

Photograph by Keren Fedida via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Source,” poem by Nikki Grimes – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Pieter Miedema: The Dutch Pastor Who Hid the Hunted – Jonathan Van Maren at The Bridgehead.

 

The Reality Gospel – Andrew Klavan at The New Jerusalem.

 

“Christ is Made the Sure Foundation,” hymn by John Mason Neale – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Not all Christian websites are good for your health – Murray Campbell.

 

He Made a Cross His Throne – Shane & Shane

Matthew Zapruder and "The Story of a Poem"

Matthew Zapruder is, well, a presence in poetry. He’s a poet. He’s published sixcollections of poetry the most recent being I Love Hearing Your Dreams (2024). His poetry is known for exploring themes of grief, perception, and logic. He published the influential work Why Poetry? He’s written essays and articles and done translations. He’s received awards, honors, and fellowships. He co-founded a publishing house. And he teaches in the MFA and English Department at Saint Mary’s College of California in suburban Sab Francisco.  

And now he’s published a memoir, The Story of a Poem. It may be the most unusual memoir I’ve read. No, it’s not written as a long poem, or series of poem. It looks like a standard memoir.

 

It is not a standard memoir. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Thursday Readings

 

“Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare,” poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Poet Laura: It’s Time to Pass the Feather – Donna Hilbert at Tweetspeak Poetry.

 

“How Doth the Little Crocodile,” poem by Lewis Carroll – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

Some Wednesday Readings – Oct. 14, 2026

In Which a Very Good Graphic Novel is Created, and I Meet Pooh Again – Sarah Hohner at Story Warren. 

The Grit That Built American Business – Richard Graber at The Coolidge Review.

 

The Art of Walking – Gracy Olmstead at Granola.

 

One Day in the Life of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – Cicero Bruce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language – Karen Swallow Prior at The Priory.

 

At Chiswick House – Spitalfields Life.

 

Rave in the nave: On the desecration of English cathedrals – The New Criterion.

 

Photograph of Chiswick House, London, by Said Camlica via Unsplash. Used with permission.