Thread by @EstherOfReilly

We are 7 subscribers away from hitting 1000 on the Substack. As an incentive, here's a sampler thread of some of the columns that have meant the most to me.

It seems fitting to start with by far the most-read, where I officially introduced myself. /1

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/coming-out-a…

Coming in second is the piece by which a number of my readers first discovered me, through no intention of my own. I owe this one to Caitlin Flanagan, even though I'm not tagging her. If you have a read, you'll see why. /2

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/frail-as-sum…

Different writers processed Afghanistan in different ways. I processed it through pictures. /3

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/we-were-stew…

My grandmother died this fall. I remembered her like this. /4

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/gram

For Veteran's Day, I remembered an old friend like this. /5

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/the-veteran-…

I wrote a poem that I wasn't sure would find a home. So I gave it one. /6

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/poem-chalice

I recovered September 11th for myself. /7

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/the-way-the-…

I wrote about Shusaku Endo and the silence of God, which I've thought more about this year than other years. /8

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/the-song-of-…

I had many thoughts about COVID, some of which I said out loud in this piece. /9

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/the-parable-…

I also said some things out loud about homosexuality. This was the last in a series. /10

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/its-a-sin-pa…

I lost a friend a year ago this July. I remembered him like this. /11

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/death-of-a-c…

That friend killed himself. I had more to say about suicide for subscribers only, here. /12

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/say-not-the-…

Also for subscribers only, I gently roasted Andrew Sullivan and explained why Jesus' bodily resurrection is pretty important, actually. /13

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/make-no-mist…

Also for subscribers only, I wrote about visiting New York and praying in the church of St. Thomas. /14

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/something-to…

On a lighter note, I had a protracted Twitter debate with @holland_tom and he called me a sophist and it was lots of fun. /15

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/objective-mo…

I told a friend's story here, one of my best pieces of journalism yet IMHO. /16

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/the-life-you…

Before closing out Substack highlights, I'll hop over to my old Patheos blog and touch on a few highlights there. By far my most-read piece this year was this analysis of the decline of David French. (@megbasham) /17

patheos.com/blogs/youngfog…

Almost as widely circulated was my verdict on the Rittenhouse affair. /18

patheos.com/blogs/youngfog…

A lot of people also found this piece helpful, a thorough run-down of the Lewisian "proof-texts" on homosexuality. /19

patheos.com/blogs/youngfog…

In that vein, another "in-house" piece I didn't pick up earlier, my review of Revoice '21 for Eikon, which was commissioned by @colinsmo just in time to squeak under the fall deadline. /20

cbmw.org/2021/11/21/unc…

Now, back to the Substack. The first column I wrote. /21:

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/american-tra…

And the last, for subscribers only, a deeply meaningful-to-me reflection on heroism, with which I hope to tempt all you as yet non-paid readers. In busier stretches, I intend to prioritize my paid content.

Happy New Year to all! /End

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/only-the-try…