I first got to know Paul Willis as a kind grandfather who occasionally attended my church. He and his wife Sharon lived up in central California, but when they were down here visiting their children and grandchildren, they’d sit right in the front pew, always with a warm, kind word for me after the service.

Then I discovered over time that Paul had a list of credentials longer than my arm. As so many wise, brilliant, truly kind people do, he never led with this. He wanted to hear about me. About our church. About what I’d been reading.

The loveliest people tend to make you feel like you are the most interesting thing in the room.

But little by little, I learned that Paul was a professor emeritus in English at Westmont College. That he’d been a poet-in-residence through the national park system. That he’d served as the Poet Laureate for the city of Santa Barbara. And I started to pick up his books and poetry. Oh, what poetry.

Paul has been formed by his time in the Cascades and the Sierras, national parks and national forests, and by a deep love and knowledge of literature. And an even deeper love for the Lord.

Our conversation is a gift, and it’s one I’m so excited to share with you today. Check out more of Paul’s work at his website, and his most recent anthology of collected writings around Advent and Christmas here.