'I was beginning to see revealed the higher and hidden meaning of that suffering for which I had been unable to find a justification ...' (1967). 'It makes me happier, more secure, to think that I do not have to plan and manage everything for myself, that I am only a sword made sharp to strike the unclean forces, an enchanted sword to cleave and disperse them. Grant, O Lord, that I may not break as I strike! Let me not fall from Thy hand!' (1973).

LRB 21 August 1980 | PDF Download