My only response is gratitude for one of the finest essays I’ve read on this platform. Ever. It’s everything I needed to read right now.

Although Taylor Swift was your jumping-off point, the larger questions you raise about the meaning and purpose of art in an era that has lost its connection to the transcendent—and its ability even to realize that something of consequence has been lost—make this an essay I will bookmark and return to again and again. Thank you for writing this.