[ENCORE] Wonder in the Wilderness: David Gate on Poetry, Care, and Staying Tender in a Harsh World

About this sermon

Sometimes a conversation lands so gently—and so powerfully—that it deserves another moment in the light. In this encore episode, Jen revisits her conversation with poet, writer, and visual artist David Gate, whose work explores themes of care, community, and spiritual resilience. Jen first discovered David the way so many of us discover the words that change us: late at night on Instagram, stumbling across a poem that made her stop mid-scroll and immediately send it to six friends. That moment sparked a quiet fandom that eventually turned into this conversation—one that feels less like an interview and more like sitting in the presence of someone who has learned how to notice beauty in hard places. David’s work—including his collection A Rebellion of Care—is rooted in the radical idea that tenderness, attention, and compassion are not small acts. They are resistance. They are survival. They are a way through the wilderness. Together, Jen and David explore how language can become a lifeline during difficult seasons. They talk about the courage of softness in a harsh world, the sacred practice of paying attention, and the way poetry can give us words for experiences we thought we had to carry alone. This conversation sits right at the intersection: the wilderness of grief, uncertainty, and fatigue—and the wonder that still insists on growing in the cracks. In This Episode, We Discuss: ● How Jen first discovered David’s poetry on Instagram ● Why tenderness and compassion can be acts of resistance ● The role of poetry in naming grief, beauty, and belonging ● The sacred practice of paying attention in everyday life ● The danger of cynicism—and how care can be a way through it ● Why emotional honesty is especially difficult—and vital—for men ● Finding wonder in the wilderness seasons of life Thought-provoking Quotes: “I did not want to have an email job and I did not want to be in meetings that could have been emails. I did not want to be on Slack. I just didn't want that to be what I was spending my time doing. I loved caring for people, and I loved creating and writing, and I got to do that within the church world.” — David Gate “It's just very hard not to be cynical about everything. I found that I was cynical because I really, really cared. And because I cared, everything felt overwhelming. The easiest way to deal with that was to shut down and be cynical. But I realized I had to press through and embrace what was behind that cynicism—my earnestness and my care in the world—and concentrate on what I wanted to build rather than what I wanted to tear down.” — David Gate “It’s a constant battle to speak the truth. Even things we all know can be difficult to say if they’re not normally expressed. You have to fight for that. You have to fight for your experience of the truth. You have to fight for your story.” — David Gate “I think it's very difficult for men to reach for emotional honesty because everything tells you you're failing if you do. But it’s the most important work right now. So much of what men are actually looking for—intimacy, belonging, companionship, adventure—is on the other side of reaching for that honesty.” — David Gate Resources Mentioned in This Episode: ➢ A Rebellion of Care: Poems and Essays by David Gate - https://amzn.to/4jjf87X ➢ Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu - https://amzn.to/3GnS21w ➢ Cultivating Belonging and Evolving Faith with Jeff Chu - https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-64/cultivating-belonging-and-evolving-faith-with-jeff-chu/ ➢ Sarah Bessey - https://www.sarahbessey.com/ ➢ Armando Veve, Illustrator - https://www.instagram.com/armandoveve/ ➢ Awake: A Memoir by Jen Hatmaker - https://amzn.to/3YHKgpw ➢ Sinners film (2025) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31193180/ ➢ Malaprop's Bookstore, Asheville - https://www.malaprops.com/ Guest’s Links: Website - https://www.davidgatepoet.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidgatepoet/ Substack - https://substack.com/@davidgatepoet Connect with Jen! Jen’s Website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker Jen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy.

Topics

• Suffering & Trials