As usual, the final throes of the semester at Ave Maria University have been frenetic, explaining my absence from the Ink Desk over the past week or so. Tomorrow morning my family and I leave for a road trip that will take the rest of the week and then, of course, Christmas will be upon us. I expect, therefore, that I will have little time to post to the site this week and will leave the Ink Desk in the capable hands of the constellation of bloggers who always ensure that there’s something worth reading on the site.

 

Before I sign off for the week, I’d like to share the text of an e-mail I’ve just received. It evokes the lessons to be learned from the life and work of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

 

I attended your talk regarding Alexander Solzhenitsyn at Holy Rosary Church in Portland this past October. I finished reading the book recently and gained a lot of insights not just bout Mr Solzhenitsyn but about the nature of totalitarianism itself. As terrible as it was I also couldn’t help but walk away with the gnawing feeling  that a soft form of totalitarianism has developed in this country and is becoming worse. A Christian and conservative understanding of man’s nature helps one to see this but it seems that is lost to many people these days. To be grateful is another strong message I got from reading about Mr Solzhenitsyn. If only we took the time to be grateful, how different a world it would be!  Since I am just reconnecting again with my Catholic faith I see this issue in a different light and it is literally life transforming. I  also found your own story compelling in the way you connected with your faith …

 

I appreciate having met you and getting a chance to read your book. It has also spurred me to also read A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Next on my list is Small is Beautiful by EF Schumacher.