Tabitha

“If Jacob had been a little less envious, if Esau had been a little less boorish, this epochal turn of things, this wholly unimpressive moment, would never have entered sacred history. This is an instance of the fact that the covenant is not contingent upon human virtue, even human intention. It is sustained by the will of God, which is so strong

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

— Anne Lamott, Somehow (133)

I reminded him of a story from an ancient Chinese Zen master, of the Buddha coming upon some people who had just been robbed while picnicking. They were racing around, enraged, asking him to help them. But Buddha asks, “Who would you rather find, the burglars or yourself?”

Tim nodded, and then said, “The burglars.”

“Same.”

— Anne Lamott, Somehow

“The opposite of murder is creation—creation, which is the telos of love. And because art, true art, is an act of creation, it always transforms its subject into itself, even if the subject is murder. An act of darkness is not the same thing as a work of art about an act of darkness.”