As a published author even before he graduated from Duke Divinity School in 2006, many might have expected Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove to move to a bigger city with brighter job prospects.
But instead, Wilson-Hartgrove and his wife, Leah, have dug their heels into the floorboards of a sagging 11/2-story bungalow in the Walltown neighborhood of Durham, where they have lived for the past seven years. The Wilson-Hartgroves have no plans to move, either.
In his new book, “The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture” (Paraclete Press), he explains why.
“We felt that by moving again and again we could get to a place where you dig 10 wells 3 feet deep and never strike water,” said Wilson-Hartgrove, 29.
The Wilson-Hartgroves see stability as a virtue. The couple consider themselves modern-day monks, devoted to a religious community of like-minded people who practice prayer, contemplation and works of justice.