Cover Letter To Father Tim (January 20, 1997)

Tim,

I thought these letters needed a cover, specifically for the people who would not be offended by the thought of a God. The attached letters, which I have numbered, were all sent to the local newspaper. Some of them were sent to the New England Journal of Medicine and to ABC News. ABC has forwarded the letters I sent them to the production staff of "Nightline." I have not heard back from the New England Journal. I also sent one of the letters (a story of my thoughts about killing myself when I was 19) to a number of regional and national newspapers.

I will call this collection "love at work in the everyday world." They are not religious and yet they are very religious. They are "palatable" in a secular society. They make good points without imposing a particular theology. They are pragmatic.

Maybe they will help in effecting change in our society. At least I know that I am trying. Please pass them around.

Brian

---
The Gift Of Faith

How divine a paradox
that in my weakness
I would find everything
and that in my strength
there is you.

It defies the law of the jungle.
It defies our science and our logic.
How beautifully defiant.
How beautifully weak.
How wonderful is this gift called faith.

I cannot lose.
I can only give.
And this pain
is only for you.
And this joy
is only from you.

I do not know how or why
but I see a divine wisdom
And I am glad.

I believe
and thank God for this gift.

I have written, as best I can, all of the important things life has taught me. I have tried to use my talents for something good. I make this my gift. I do not force it on anyone. I share it with them in the hope that it might help them to discover the peace I have found. The peace that comes from knowing that we are in good hands. We are in each other's hand. And we need to be there. I am not fulfilled without you. If you throw me away then it will hurt me, but only because you could not see the beauty of it all. I do not count and yet I am everything. Our God is beautiful beyond our dreams.

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