To speak of Him my slow tongue slips,
For I am one of unclean lips.
But one who held a burning coal
Has seared my mouth and made me whole.
A voice said, “Who shall go for us?”
“Lord, I shall, if you wish it thus.
But tell me this, O Lord, how long?”
“Until the city filled with wrong
Shall be a desolation, and
The land of wealth a wasted land,
No more a place of high renown;
Let its proud oaks be taken down.
But something there shall still remain,
Someday the land rejoice again,
From whose lap shall in time succeed
New oaks born of the fallen seed.”
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an online journal for those who seek the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson, Paul Elmer More, and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism. Some conservatives may look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.” The Imaginative Conservative offers to our families, our communities, and the Republic, a conservatism of hope, grace, charity, gratitude, and prayer.
The featured image is “Prophet Isaiah” by Antonio Balestra (1666–1740) and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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