Today’s One-Liner (#298)
Philothea, since you wish to live a devout life you must not only cease to sin but you must also purify your heart of all affection for sin. –Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the…
Category: Correspondence
Going Further
One day St John of the Cross confided to a friend that there was still something which prevented his complete detachment from earthly affections. Fetching a bundle of papers he threw them into the fire…
A Note from Natalie Long
I’m reading “The Sayings of the Desert Fathers”. This excerpt, recounted in the section on Abba Poemen, reminded me of Father Zossima. 34. Another brother questioned him in these words: What does, “See that none…
Pass It on
In English, I send my articles out via e-mail. It’s one of the best ways, and certainly the easiest, to publish political writing in this country. Send it to your friends and let the friends,…
Appreciating Jack Appreciating
Jack Kerouac, Selected Letters: 1940-1956, v. 1 As I’m convinced of the the utility of “pulling”* from my reading, I found the following gems in some of Kerouac’s letters up till he had to deal…
Dear Ziva
Dear Ziva, I’ve read two of Hillel Halkin’s books: Letters to an American Jewish Friend: A Zionist’s Polemic and A Complicated Jew: Selected Essays. (I loved his translation of Sholem Aleichem [Tevye the Dairyman and…
Stolen at Gunpoint
I’m grateful to have come across Kari’s kind correspondence in a file this evening. Dear Mark, I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for taking the time to write The Book…
Serendipity
I was searching for one thing on my laptop, and I came across this feedback from a SLU student in 2006… Dear Dr. Chmiel, I am writing you to finally submit my insertion. I apologize…
A Letter from 2009
Thursday 26 February 2009 Dear Blair, Sorry it has taken so long to respond to your simple question—but as you are a teacher, I can probably count on your understanding. You wrote: “From everything you’ve…