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Hello, welcome to the editor's desk. This is the podcast where we take a closer look at the essays

and articles in the latest print issue of First Things magazine.

I'm Rusty Reno. I'm the editor of First Things magazine. And I'm here with you today at the editor's desk.

Well, again, welcome to the First Things Office, Leah. And, you know, tell us a little bit about the dignity of dependence and what you were after in this book.

Well, this book actually got its start in an essay I wrote for Plow on dependence.

And that kind of gave one of the, I think, two through lines throughout the book.

The two arguments that really

animate the whole book in different proportions and combinations throughout are one. Dependence

is a natural part of being a human being. It's not an aberrational state. It's not a temporary

failure. It's not a brief embarrassment at the beginning of our life that we

unfortunately sink into at the end. Needing other people is the entire pattern of our lives.

And for Christians in particular, this shouldn't be a surprise. Because even at kind of the peak

moments of autonomy, when you are, let's say, 30 years old, a guy goes to the gym, definitely

getting married at some point, but not yet, so you don't have to worry about your wife or your

kids and your parents are currently in good health. The peak human life, according to the

ideal of autonomy. Even in that moment, you yourself remain

dependent, sustained moment in existence by God, dependent on Christ for your own redemption. So there's

...