Advice for My Little Sister
Twelve years passed, almost to the day, between my birth and the birth of my sister. When she was born I was a bony adolescent—what I call gawkward—who wore bifocals, DARE t-shirts, scrunchies, and...
View ArticleGrace and the Incomplete Flush
Almost two years ago my husband and I bought a condo in a cool old building downtown. Great location, hardwood floors, exposed brick, pocket doors—charm and more charm. The trouble with cool old...
View ArticleMy Mother, My Daughter, Myself
My daughter Anna Maria was born on Orthodox Easter Sunday—Pascha—six years ago. That year, the date fell on April 19. While her brother had blasted his way into the world at the very bottom of the...
View ArticleFor the Love of Money
My husband and I took a spring break trip to the central coast of California, and we included a stop at the Hearst Castle—William Randolph Hearst’s 90,000 square foot, 61-bathroom home on 127 acres at...
View ArticleTriple Scoop
By Jessica Mesman Griffith My best friend died suddenly almost two years ago. She’d lived across the country from me for almost ten years by then, and since our relationship mostly happened over the...
View ArticleThe Thing Itself: Art and Poverty, Part 1
The following is adapted from a presentation given at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley in January 2015 during a convocation on the topic “Blessed Are You Poor: What Does It...
View ArticleThe Thing Itself: Art and Poverty, Part 2
Continued from yesterday. How should we treat the poor? Among those who work on behalf of them, it has become a truism that our first obligation toward our less fortunate brothers and sisters is to...
View ArticleDancing for My Life, Part 1
“ONE two three, LONG short short—don’t step on her!” Gulya is my dance instructor. She’s from Azerbaijan, she’s five feet tall, and I’m afraid of her. Gulya, too, is afraid. She fears I will stomp my...
View ArticleBeauty, Christian Love, and Gay Marriage
Justice Anthony Kennedy, in the recent Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, wrote the following concluding paragraph: No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest...
View ArticleThe Eighth Day: Reclaiming a Neglected Novel
It must be a common occurrence—having certain inanimate things make periodic appearances throughout a life, much like acquaintances who keep popping up in odd places—on the bus, in a crowd, across a...
View ArticleDriving the Dark Roads
The other day I got an email from a high-school boyfriend, which drove me headlong into remembrance of a time in my life I’ve tried to forget. My husband is the only person I know who enjoyed high...
View ArticleMy Wish for My Students
Only this I wish for my students: this semester, I hope you will learn to care for each other. I hope you will learn how to create conditions in which everyone present in the room feels welcome to...
View ArticleGoing to the Manger as She Is
By Ann Hedreen I drape a towel over Nick’s head and strap it in place with a bandana. I squeeze Claire’s arms into her bent-hanger angel wings. It is the morning of the Christmas pageant, and my...
View ArticleAbove Calcutta
By Laura Bramon The summer before you died, I hid on the roof in Tollygunge. I walked part of the way home from Sudder Street and by the time I got to the apartment building where I was staying, the...
View ArticlePoetry Friday: “Annunciation” by Katharine Coles
Each Friday at Good Letters we feature a poem from the pages of Image, selected and introduced by one of our writers or readers. Of all Gospel passages, I think the Annunciation is the scene most...
View ArticleAutistic Lives Matter
When I first met Daniel Bowman Jr. at the Festival of Faith and Writing, we both experienced that you’re-not-how-I-pictured-you-from-Facebook moment. While he may not have felt self-consciously...
View ArticleHoney, I Want a Tattoo
By Brad Fruhauff If Katie had had a tattoo when we met, I probably would have married her thinking it quirky or even, perhaps, kind of cool. But when we married her only unusual body mod was a tasteful...
View ArticleHoney, Let’s Get Tattoos: Tattoos and Embodiment
Continued from a previous post. Read part 1 here. After my wife Katie and I decided to get matching tattoos, we spent months pinning designs and discussing placement, and—let’s be honest—fighting over...
View ArticleWhat Happened to Fun?
I was so good, and for such a long time, two weeks at least of decent work and adherence to my schedule. Two weeks of self control, discipline, and a rule—twenty minutes of prayer, ten of spiritual...
View ArticleDancing on the Way to Prison
By John Bryant I’m standing in a circle with thirty singing and swaying old men and we hold each other’s hands because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and signal the presence of His Spirit by...
View Article
