Y’all. I was in the process of creating a Substack, and it was going to be awesome. Here was the About page:
What This Is (and Isn’t)
I’m starting a PhD in English at the University of Tennessee. Our youngest daughter has just graduated from high school, so I have enough furniture packed for a two-bedroom apartment, and I couldn’t tell you if I am stepping up or stepping out – it is a lot. But I asked for this. Prayed for it even. When I stepped onto the Georgia Southern University campus in 2020 as a 43-year-old freshman, this was, is, the dream.
But this isn’t really new. As I prepare to enter the last year of my 40s, it occurs to me that this entire decade has been marked with growth, change, and stunning developments.
So I’m giving myself somewhere to think out loud. I also didn’t know many folks like me when I started this journey…so I decided to create the space where maybe we can talk about that too. A space where the big ideas, crazy dreams, and scary leaps have a cheering squad.
Have I done this before? Sure. Have I done it like this? Eh, there’s an argument to be made either way. But this change is substantially different, and so I figured I would try something that at least felt different. Substack is different. I have moved around – and continue to move around – different versions of apriltrepagnier.com for nearly 20 years. I just felt like this needed its own space.
I don’t have a grand strategy…there is no master plan. There are just wonders. I wonder what this will look like in 4 years. I wonder what I will learn. I wonder…I mean, hell, we take before-and-after pictures of all kinds of stuff. Progress pictures are damn near mandatory for weight loss, renovations, first and last days of school. There is a reason we do it. I am about to find out if it applies here.
I want to be able to trace the shape of what’s unfolding. I want to be able to reflect on and discuss the different shapes of my faith, scholarship, and stories, and how they intertwine. I want to explore the idea that stories, not opposable thumbs, are what make us special and human. I want to show that our stories are important, and they make us better people.
Here’s what you might find here:
- Notes on what I’m reading
- Thoughts about literature, language, learning, and the long game of formation
- Honest glimpses into the process of becoming a scholar (without losing the soul)
- The sanctification of work and how God’s unique call leaves fingerprints through the pages
But I am not promising anything. Today is June 17, 2025. I have two weeks before I move into my apartment, a month and a half before my contract starts, and two months before classes begin. Lots of shifts in brain movement can happen between now and then. Tracing
But, hey, we can talk about that too.
Pax,
April
About the Name
I suppose I need some time to unpack the answer to that question. For now, Noel Ethan Tan does a great job of explaining the reference:
There are only two charcoal fires (Greek: anthrakia)mentioned in the whole Bible, and they are both in the Gospel of John…one anthrakia sets the threefold denial of discipleship, while the other anthrakia sets the threefold affirmation of discipleship.
That’s pretty good, right? Of course it is! And it would have been awesome…for about 2 weeks. Then it would have become an overthought mess that took more time to untangle the knots in my head than it did to get to the real point of whatever it is I was trying to say. So I am just gonna put it here, because why not?
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