Emile Antoine Guillier, Bateau-lavoir sur la Seine, aux environs de Paris, 1880

The Best Degenerates in America, According to Kathleen Norris

On the “uselessness” of art and prayer

Emile Antoine Guillier, Bateau-lavoir sur la Seine, aux environs de Paris, 1880

Kathleen Norris, reflecting on the similarities between poets and monks:

I regard monks and poets as the best degenerates in America. Both have a finely developed sense of the sacred potential in all things; both value image and symbol over utilitarian purpose or the bottom line; they recognize the transformative power hiding in the simplest things, and it leads them to commit absurd acts: the poem! the prayer! what nonsense! In a culture that excels at creating artificial, tightly controlled environments (shopping malls, amusement parks, chain motels), the art of monks and poets is useless, if not irresponsible, remaining out of reach of commercial manipulation and ideological justification.

— Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk (New York: Riverhead Books, 1996), 146.

About Ryan

Ryan writes for weary pilgrims learning to follow Jesus through the wilderness. He served as a lead pastor at a church in Southern California from 2016–2025. Before that, he worked as a software engineer in the biotech space. Today, he lives with his family in Escondido, California.

The Weary Pilgrim

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