earth’s shadow
When I see the moon at its thinnest stage, I sometimes think of a passage I read in Flannery O’Connor’s A Prayer Journal. The writer composed these poetic words for God: “You are the slim crescent of a moon . . . and my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon . . . I do not know you God, because I am in the way. Please help me to push myself aside.”
discipline of secrecy
I’m an exhibitionist,” said the surrealist artist Salvador Dali. “Life is too short to remain unnoticed.” And actress Marlene Dietrich once released an album made entirely of the applause recorded at her cabarets—which she frequently played for her friends.
The desire for praise is never far from any of us. We want people to applaud our qualities and achievements. We…
