which comes from the Latin gratia, is difficult to pin down, but usually it refers to God's giving of
mercy, kindness and compassion to people who don't deserve it-which, Christians think, includes
everyone. Christians believe that God's grace is available to everyone, but is extended most fully to
those who willingly accept it. Sometimes God will "help" people to accept his grace by allowing
them to make messes of their lives, at which point they might become willing to let God into their
lives. It seems that, in various ways, this is what happens to the characters in Brideshead Revisited.Greg's response is that, in the novel, Christianity just makes people miserable. Preston agrees that
characters in the novel are miserable, but thinks that this misery leads to a kind of freedom.If you have read the novel, or seen the BBC film production, do you think the characters' misery
leads to anything worthwhile? If they experience anything worthwhile, could what they experience
be called "grace"?If you haven't read the novel or seen the BBC production, do so and see what you think.Because I care about her as a student, and because I care about writing, I will continue to press her. She
will continue to not like it and, perhaps, to wave other ambitious students away from my classes. But I
hope that in time she will see the good thing I'm doing. For her to become a really good writer, her current
belief needs to be challenged. She'll be the better for it.
This is something like what happened to Charles and Julia. They had to give up beliefs about what they
thought was good for something that was really better. This sort of process usually involves
unpleasantness. Life is a learning process, then we die.
Now that the smoke has cleared, your dissertation goes to the top of the pile, along with about eight
books to review. Thanks for sending it.
Peace,
Preston
Dear Preston,
I usually don't do this (forward fan mail) but this letter is such an interesting parallel with our earlier
correspondence that I thought you might appreciate reading it. This letter is one that I read this week. It is
very typical of a lot of the mail Bad Religion receives. It reveals that "born-agains," probably the group
most responsi ble for America's unusually high statistic for religiosity, are numerous and not very liberal
with their children when it comes to faith. It is a sad statement. We hardly ever receive letters like this
from other countries (and foreign mail makes up about 30% of our fan mail).
Sincerely,
Greg
Dear Mr. Graffin,