832 Terry Tempest Williams: The Glorians

The United States is suffering from a collective 'long COVID'—a national trauma rooted in the unprocessed grief of over a million lives lost during the pandemic, compounded by the unraveling of democratic norms under a second Trump administration. In her new book, *The Glorians, Visitations from the Holy Ordinary*, author and environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams argues that this societal crisis isn't just political or economic—it's spiritual. Drawing from a vivid dream she had on March 20, 2020, the day the world shut down, Williams introduces the concept of the 'Glorian': a moment of grace so ordinary it’s easily missed—a single ant carrying a coyote blossom across a patio, a sudden chorus of birdsong during a Zoom class, or the Milky Way emerging over a Utah desert. These are not miracles, but revelations of the sacred in the everyday. Williams, who splits her life between the arid desert of Utah and Harvard Divinity School, uses her dual worlds to show how deep attention to the natural world—listening to birds, watching storms, gazing at stars—can heal fractured communities and restore our capacity for love, engagement, and resilience. Her message is radical: in a time of collapse, we don’t need more ideology, but more presence. The path forward isn’t through outrage or retreat, but through the quiet, daily practice of noticing, grieving, and connecting—because when we are truly present, we know what to do. Williams’ journey from grief to grace is not passive.