Nathan Daniel Blake
@storyofndblake.bsky.social
Appalachian writer & post-evangelical wildling. Comforting the troubled & troubling the comfortable. New monastic. Keeper of the wild. Aspiring hiker trash. 🌿➕📿
www.storyofndblake.com
www.storyofndblake.com
Scripture doesn’t attempt to answer every question.
The goal of study isn’t to master the text, it’s to be mastered by the Spirit through it.
We don’t study to know, but to be formed—not for better apologetics but for better attunement.
New Post Drop Below. 👇
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
The goal of study isn’t to master the text, it’s to be mastered by the Spirit through it.
We don’t study to know, but to be formed—not for better apologetics but for better attunement.
New Post Drop Below. 👇
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
May 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Scripture doesn’t attempt to answer every question.
The goal of study isn’t to master the text, it’s to be mastered by the Spirit through it.
We don’t study to know, but to be formed—not for better apologetics but for better attunement.
New Post Drop Below. 👇
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
The goal of study isn’t to master the text, it’s to be mastered by the Spirit through it.
We don’t study to know, but to be formed—not for better apologetics but for better attunement.
New Post Drop Below. 👇
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
New Post Just Dropped!
There is a kind of mercy to a daily rhythm rooted in prayer.
The body knows it. The land knows it. Our souls remember it too.
Praying modified hours may not fit our way of life, but that might entirely be the point.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/simplified...
There is a kind of mercy to a daily rhythm rooted in prayer.
The body knows it. The land knows it. Our souls remember it too.
Praying modified hours may not fit our way of life, but that might entirely be the point.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/simplified...
May 1, 2025 at 6:36 PM
New Post Just Dropped!
There is a kind of mercy to a daily rhythm rooted in prayer.
The body knows it. The land knows it. Our souls remember it too.
Praying modified hours may not fit our way of life, but that might entirely be the point.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/simplified...
There is a kind of mercy to a daily rhythm rooted in prayer.
The body knows it. The land knows it. Our souls remember it too.
Praying modified hours may not fit our way of life, but that might entirely be the point.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/simplified...
Lots of plates spinning right now. Bandwidth meter is blinking red. But God is moving, and there is nowhere I’d rather be than in that presence & opportunity.
But all of that calls me into the wild to recalibrate and quiet myself for the week ahead.
But all of that calls me into the wild to recalibrate and quiet myself for the week ahead.
April 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Lots of plates spinning right now. Bandwidth meter is blinking red. But God is moving, and there is nowhere I’d rather be than in that presence & opportunity.
But all of that calls me into the wild to recalibrate and quiet myself for the week ahead.
But all of that calls me into the wild to recalibrate and quiet myself for the week ahead.
Holy Week Retreat Views
April 19, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Holy Week Retreat Views
A couple years ago, I set out to try to better understand my wife and daughters by writing poems to them and through the way they see and experience the world.
This showed up in my memories today.
I think it's one of my favorite poems that I've written.
This showed up in my memories today.
I think it's one of my favorite poems that I've written.
March 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A couple years ago, I set out to try to better understand my wife and daughters by writing poems to them and through the way they see and experience the world.
This showed up in my memories today.
I think it's one of my favorite poems that I've written.
This showed up in my memories today.
I think it's one of my favorite poems that I've written.
How many of you are over on Instagram?
I’m trying to do more visual stuff over there.
Hit me up if you’re so inclined.
www.instagram.com/storyofndblake
I’m trying to do more visual stuff over there.
Hit me up if you’re so inclined.
www.instagram.com/storyofndblake
March 19, 2025 at 8:33 PM
How many of you are over on Instagram?
I’m trying to do more visual stuff over there.
Hit me up if you’re so inclined.
www.instagram.com/storyofndblake
I’m trying to do more visual stuff over there.
Hit me up if you’re so inclined.
www.instagram.com/storyofndblake
Obedience often defies reason. Giving with an open hand isn’t about logic—it’s about trust.
The widow in Zarephath gave what little she had, and God provided.
What if generosity is less about what we have & more about the posture of our hearts?
Read more: www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
The widow in Zarephath gave what little she had, and God provided.
What if generosity is less about what we have & more about the posture of our hearts?
Read more: www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
March 19, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Obedience often defies reason. Giving with an open hand isn’t about logic—it’s about trust.
The widow in Zarephath gave what little she had, and God provided.
What if generosity is less about what we have & more about the posture of our hearts?
Read more: www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
The widow in Zarephath gave what little she had, and God provided.
What if generosity is less about what we have & more about the posture of our hearts?
Read more: www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
On this St. Patrick’s Day, we remember a saint who walked the wild places by choice, in obedience, with faith as his guide.
Sláinte to the pilgrims, the storytellers, and those who find home in the hinterlands of faith. May you find a welcoming hearth today.
( art via our church speaks )
Sláinte to the pilgrims, the storytellers, and those who find home in the hinterlands of faith. May you find a welcoming hearth today.
( art via our church speaks )
March 17, 2025 at 2:25 PM
On this St. Patrick’s Day, we remember a saint who walked the wild places by choice, in obedience, with faith as his guide.
Sláinte to the pilgrims, the storytellers, and those who find home in the hinterlands of faith. May you find a welcoming hearth today.
( art via our church speaks )
Sláinte to the pilgrims, the storytellers, and those who find home in the hinterlands of faith. May you find a welcoming hearth today.
( art via our church speaks )
Anyone interested in a pack shakedown video?
My 2025 Three-Season Rewilding Retreat bag is packed & weighed: Base pack weight of 19.4 lbs, but that includes moving to a bear canister full-time & bringing the old Thermarest RidgeRest out of retirement as a luxury item for my 45 year old back.
My 2025 Three-Season Rewilding Retreat bag is packed & weighed: Base pack weight of 19.4 lbs, but that includes moving to a bear canister full-time & bringing the old Thermarest RidgeRest out of retirement as a luxury item for my 45 year old back.
March 17, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Anyone interested in a pack shakedown video?
My 2025 Three-Season Rewilding Retreat bag is packed & weighed: Base pack weight of 19.4 lbs, but that includes moving to a bear canister full-time & bringing the old Thermarest RidgeRest out of retirement as a luxury item for my 45 year old back.
My 2025 Three-Season Rewilding Retreat bag is packed & weighed: Base pack weight of 19.4 lbs, but that includes moving to a bear canister full-time & bringing the old Thermarest RidgeRest out of retirement as a luxury item for my 45 year old back.
New post just dropped ...
We won't bring The Kingdom of God to earth by sitting atop a conquered throne. We'll cultivate it around a shared table.
His kingdom advances through hospitality, generosity, and shared meals, not manipulation & force.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/24-rhythms...
We won't bring The Kingdom of God to earth by sitting atop a conquered throne. We'll cultivate it around a shared table.
His kingdom advances through hospitality, generosity, and shared meals, not manipulation & force.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/24-rhythms...
March 11, 2025 at 6:52 PM
New post just dropped ...
We won't bring The Kingdom of God to earth by sitting atop a conquered throne. We'll cultivate it around a shared table.
His kingdom advances through hospitality, generosity, and shared meals, not manipulation & force.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/24-rhythms...
We won't bring The Kingdom of God to earth by sitting atop a conquered throne. We'll cultivate it around a shared table.
His kingdom advances through hospitality, generosity, and shared meals, not manipulation & force.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/24-rhythms...
When I think of where I was just a few years ago—broken, riddled with anxiety, tired of being alive—and how blessed and hopeful I feel today, I can only smile and be grateful that in my most desperate hour, G-d heard my guttural cry and met me, as he always has done.
March 11, 2025 at 1:32 PM
When I think of where I was just a few years ago—broken, riddled with anxiety, tired of being alive—and how blessed and hopeful I feel today, I can only smile and be grateful that in my most desperate hour, G-d heard my guttural cry and met me, as he always has done.
Last Tuesday evening was such a welcome reprieve from the cold of this long winter that I went outside to enjoy my Tuesday evening class at Pillar Seminary around a good fire.
These classmates have become my spiritual family, and I feel so grateful to have them in my life.
These classmates have become my spiritual family, and I feel so grateful to have them in my life.
March 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Last Tuesday evening was such a welcome reprieve from the cold of this long winter that I went outside to enjoy my Tuesday evening class at Pillar Seminary around a good fire.
These classmates have become my spiritual family, and I feel so grateful to have them in my life.
These classmates have become my spiritual family, and I feel so grateful to have them in my life.
Radical hospitality is an act of defiance in a world obsessed with productivity. It refuses to measure worth by usefulness & instead builds tables wide enough for the forgotten.
Hospitality is not a gesture. It is the architecture of the Kingdom already here.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
Hospitality is not a gesture. It is the architecture of the Kingdom already here.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
March 4, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Radical hospitality is an act of defiance in a world obsessed with productivity. It refuses to measure worth by usefulness & instead builds tables wide enough for the forgotten.
Hospitality is not a gesture. It is the architecture of the Kingdom already here.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
Hospitality is not a gesture. It is the architecture of the Kingdom already here.
www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
Explain your theology in one gif.
I’ll start.
I’ll start.
March 4, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Explain your theology in one gif.
I’ll start.
I’ll start.
100% chance I’m sleeping outside on Tuesday evening — gotta’ touch some grass and have my morning coffee with the brisk air against my skin.
March 2, 2025 at 8:00 PM
100% chance I’m sleeping outside on Tuesday evening — gotta’ touch some grass and have my morning coffee with the brisk air against my skin.
I’m pretty sure my boys could beat me up (though I tell they couldn’t), so I like to remind them that I’m still cooler than they are.
March 1, 2025 at 2:02 AM
I’m pretty sure my boys could beat me up (though I tell they couldn’t), so I like to remind them that I’m still cooler than they are.
Two years ago, I brought a tiny transplanted sprout into an office with no natural light.
Almost immediately, a vine shot out toward a sun she could not see.
Yesterday, I pruned her back, and those cuttings will be four new plants who will send their own shoots off to find the sun.
Almost immediately, a vine shot out toward a sun she could not see.
Yesterday, I pruned her back, and those cuttings will be four new plants who will send their own shoots off to find the sun.
February 27, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Two years ago, I brought a tiny transplanted sprout into an office with no natural light.
Almost immediately, a vine shot out toward a sun she could not see.
Yesterday, I pruned her back, and those cuttings will be four new plants who will send their own shoots off to find the sun.
Almost immediately, a vine shot out toward a sun she could not see.
Yesterday, I pruned her back, and those cuttings will be four new plants who will send their own shoots off to find the sun.
No one becomes wise alone. No one stays strong alone. No one is sanctified alone.
So, how do you keep moving forward? Who will help you along the way?
I think the answer is a relational cord of three strands that shape and sustain us—“anamchara”, soul friends.
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
So, how do you keep moving forward? Who will help you along the way?
I think the answer is a relational cord of three strands that shape and sustain us—“anamchara”, soul friends.
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
February 26, 2025 at 12:26 AM
No one becomes wise alone. No one stays strong alone. No one is sanctified alone.
So, how do you keep moving forward? Who will help you along the way?
I think the answer is a relational cord of three strands that shape and sustain us—“anamchara”, soul friends.
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
So, how do you keep moving forward? Who will help you along the way?
I think the answer is a relational cord of three strands that shape and sustain us—“anamchara”, soul friends.
open.substack.com/pub/storyofn...
Not all who wander become saints, but nobody is left unchanged by the wilderness.
The question is whether you will succumb to the feelings of being adrift or settle in to learn the lessons that only it can teach.
The question is whether you will succumb to the feelings of being adrift or settle in to learn the lessons that only it can teach.
February 24, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Not all who wander become saints, but nobody is left unchanged by the wilderness.
The question is whether you will succumb to the feelings of being adrift or settle in to learn the lessons that only it can teach.
The question is whether you will succumb to the feelings of being adrift or settle in to learn the lessons that only it can teach.
Rhythm 20: Grow Something; Share Something.
“In a prevailing culture where success is measured by speed and efficiency, it is important that we be intentional about remembering that quality organic growth takes time and attention."
(The Way of Hearth & Hinterland)
“In a prevailing culture where success is measured by speed and efficiency, it is important that we be intentional about remembering that quality organic growth takes time and attention."
(The Way of Hearth & Hinterland)
February 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Rhythm 20: Grow Something; Share Something.
“In a prevailing culture where success is measured by speed and efficiency, it is important that we be intentional about remembering that quality organic growth takes time and attention."
(The Way of Hearth & Hinterland)
“In a prevailing culture where success is measured by speed and efficiency, it is important that we be intentional about remembering that quality organic growth takes time and attention."
(The Way of Hearth & Hinterland)
The wilderness is calling, and not everyone will answer. It is the road of prophets and pilgrims, of saints who walked away from the comfort of empire toward something deeper, wilder, truer.
If you feel lost, maybe you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
Where are my spiritual wildlings?
If you feel lost, maybe you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
Where are my spiritual wildlings?
February 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM
The wilderness is calling, and not everyone will answer. It is the road of prophets and pilgrims, of saints who walked away from the comfort of empire toward something deeper, wilder, truer.
If you feel lost, maybe you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
Where are my spiritual wildlings?
If you feel lost, maybe you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
Where are my spiritual wildlings?
Early morning recording with @paul.urbanmonastic.org on the @ministrymisfit.bsky.social podcast.
Monasticism has always thrived in times of cultural upheaval. Could new monasticism hold some answers for navigating our current political and spiritual climates?
I think so.
Monasticism has always thrived in times of cultural upheaval. Could new monasticism hold some answers for navigating our current political and spiritual climates?
I think so.
February 16, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Early morning recording with @paul.urbanmonastic.org on the @ministrymisfit.bsky.social podcast.
Monasticism has always thrived in times of cultural upheaval. Could new monasticism hold some answers for navigating our current political and spiritual climates?
I think so.
Monasticism has always thrived in times of cultural upheaval. Could new monasticism hold some answers for navigating our current political and spiritual climates?
I think so.
Quiet Saturday with my wife … Harry Potter marathon, food delivery, hopeful conversation, and enjoying my valentine gifts — an XL wool blanket & a new book she picked up for me.
These are good moments.
These are good moments.
February 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Quiet Saturday with my wife … Harry Potter marathon, food delivery, hopeful conversation, and enjoying my valentine gifts — an XL wool blanket & a new book she picked up for me.
These are good moments.
These are good moments.
Throwing weekend with my 17.5 year old OL/throwers in Northeast Ohio — throwing in two meets across two days.
“You guys want to go see a movie?”
So, now I’m sitting in a theater filled with small children getting ready to watch “Dogman.”
Love these boys.
“You guys want to go see a movie?”
So, now I’m sitting in a theater filled with small children getting ready to watch “Dogman.”
Love these boys.
February 1, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Throwing weekend with my 17.5 year old OL/throwers in Northeast Ohio — throwing in two meets across two days.
“You guys want to go see a movie?”
So, now I’m sitting in a theater filled with small children getting ready to watch “Dogman.”
Love these boys.
“You guys want to go see a movie?”
So, now I’m sitting in a theater filled with small children getting ready to watch “Dogman.”
Love these boys.