In the apology for his “cookbook,” Robert Farrar Capon proclaims,
“The world may or may not need another cookbook, but it needs all the lovers – amateurs – it can get. It is a gorgeous old place, full of clownish graces and beautiful drolleries, and it has enough textures, tastes, and smells to keep us intrigued for more time than we have. Unfortunately, however, our response to its loveliness is not always delight: It is, far more often than it should be, boredom. And that is not only odd, it is tragic; for boredom is not neutral – it is the fertilizing principle of unloveliness.
“In such a situation, the amateur – the lover…is just the man you need. More than that, whether you think you need him or not, he is a man who is bound, by his love, to speak… A silent lover is one who doesn’t know his job.”
I share these words because the same things can be said, in general, about writing or all forms of media. Another magazine – is it necessary? As a society, we like to speak of oversaturated markets and consumer fatigue. Yet, as helpful and pragmatic as the terminology may be, it will never stop the amateur. When we begin to feel that there is no space for the creativity of the everyman, the world becomes a gray place. We have let the marketers and corporations have the final say about what it means to act with the freedom of the children of God.
Trivium Magazine is not borne out of surveys and opportunities, but the desire to communicate and restore delight in true, good, and beautiful things. Our hope is that it will not be the musings of a few guarded voices, but the gathering of many amateurs, truly – lovers, to speak with renewed reverence and imagination about what we behold in these fleeting seasons of life. We hope that there are many lovers out there who both wish to read and write with us, to join in this learning to love.
We look to one another in desperate need to rediscover the truth that this world is good because it was created so. We are grateful for the creations of others because they remind us of the indescribable good of our own God. To see a courageous man, drawing deep into his own living principle, his soul, and emerge shrouded in the light of contemplation is miraculous. It is something we do when we write, and something we participate in when we read – a sort of transfiguration.
I suppose this “creative bravery” in God would simply be called love, the kind of love that spoke us into being. What a wonderful thing to learn and glimpse something of that, to become image bearers in our own little way.
If this mission resonates with you, join us in reclaiming the power of words, whether it may be a season of contributing or savoring. Words are something we as humans uniquely use to praise our Lord. Let us use this gift of speaking to announce His grace in the places where our humble human lives meet the divine workings. Let us use the gift of listening to respect and remember the community of human persons we are a part of on this earth. We cannot grow bored of our dazzling, albeit tiny, place in this cosmos.
How can YOU get involved?
First of all, please subscribe!
We have multiple subscription tiers, ranging from quarterly payments for each issue, our yearly + digital subscription, and finally, our “Trailblazers” subscription, which enables you to go the extra mile in supporting us as we launch.
You can use code TRIVIUM for 5% off!
Second, please send us your submissions!
One of our biggest goals in creating Trivium Magazine is to find ways we can forge and deepen community by inviting our readers to contribute in some way to each issue. Whether it’s an article (500-1200 words), a poem, a short story, photographs you’ve taken, something for the kid’s section, or anything else you can think of – we’d love to find a way to include it!
If you’d like to contribute, please use the Submissions form on our website, or send us an email at: submissions@triviummagazine.com.
Our upcoming themes and deadlines are:
- Summer 2024 (Nurturing) – Deadline: April 21, 2024
- Fall 2024 (Harvesting) – Deadline: August 18th, 2024
- Winter 2025 (Hibernating) – Deadline: November 17th, 2024
- Spring 2025 (Planting) – Deadline: February 16th, 2025
