Repent!

Paul Kingsnorth writes "I Found Freedom Along the Alaska Highway," sometimes quoting from Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as here:

Pirsig’s 1968 road trip took place in a revolutionary year. There were fires all around him in America, but he could see where the real enemy lay:

Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right. The social values are right only if the individual values are right. The place to improve the world is first in one's heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.

There’s a Greek word for this: metanoia. In English, it is usually translated as “repent.” It’s the first word Jesus of Nazareth is recorded as saying as he begins his mission. Sometimes we think it means “say sorry to God or get cast into hell,” but actually it means “turn around.” It means “change yourself”—your heart, your mind, your way of seeing. It all starts there. We all know this really, but simply accepting it would leave all the overthinkers with nothing to do.

Paul Kingsnorth, "I Found Freedom Along the Alaska Highway," The Free Press, August 28, 2025.