Our Hearts Are Restless

It seems like forever and yesterday that I started as a bright-eyed, naive little freshman at Christendom College.  After four years and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature, the world seems just about as scary as it did then, but I'm so much better prepared to deal with it.  I could go back and give a post-mortem of all the things I wish I'd done better, but likewise I can give you an even longer list of why I'm glad I went.  I even managed to graduate  summa cum laude , thanks be to God!  My thesis was successfully concluded, I've made a myriad of "life-giving friends" (thanks, Dr. O'Donnell, for that perfect phrase!), I've grown spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, I've learned my strengths and my weaknesses, and I've received an amazingly intense and grace-filled education. Many thanks are due to my parents.  They are responsible for getting me to Christendom in the first place (that's a story in itself) and have sac...

In the course of interviewing for various publishing jobs, I’ve repeatedly been asked the question “Why did you choose literature for a major?” or “Why do you want to work in publishing?”  (Believe it or not, this is much easier to answer than the dreaded “What’s your favorite book?” I’m a lit major – I don’t have a favorite book, I have a hundred favorite books.) My answer is the same every time.  I love literature, books, reading, talking, all for the same reason: words are important.  Words have power, but that power comes through their ability to express truth, goodness, and beauty.  In the human world, words are the only way we have to communicate; even body language, gestures, et cetera, are only concrete when they are matched with words.  It is true that the ultimate gift of self is a wordless action; however, that gift is ratified, sanctified, and directed by those most important of words: I do. God himself chose not only an action, but also words and a Word.  The Creator of al...