Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Welcome to The Secret Thread!

"You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words . . ."
C. S. LEWIS, The Problem of Pain

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce The Secret Thread to the "blogosphere"... I am going to keep this first post brief since I am a blogging neophyte (believe it or not -- I know, I may well be the last one, at least under the age of 40), and want to make sure all is working according to plan... but allow me to offer a few tantalizing hints with regard to the purpose of this here site. It is the latest manifestation of a life-long (and I do mean life-long) conversation that my twin brother J. and I have been conducting about great books, and how they lead us to deep truths and even (at their best) wisdom about God, the universe, and the human condition. For literally as long as I can remember, J. and I have been sharing thoughts, ideas and questions about stories and other writings that have touched our hearts and souls in one way or another, and in my adult years I have started to get interested in the relationship between literature & the spiritual life: what is it about certain books that seems to awaken in us a desire to know, to understand, to seek that which is greater than ourselves? What makes a Classic a classic, and a Great Book great? Why do the best stories always seem to provide not just entertainment, but somehow increased knowledge of our own nature? How is it that some prose and poetry can literally cause our hearts to ache?

J. and I have been kicking around and debating these questions, and many many others, for decades... but now that technology has caught up with our ability to ramble on ad nauseam about books and life and Truth, I thought it might be time to open up the conversation to anyone else out there who has been following that "secret thread" in the books they love... the one that I am firmly convinced will help lead us, if our hearts and minds are receptive, Home... to the great Author and Creator of all life.

I dedicate this blog, then, to my twin brother J., who I hope will be ringing in here very soon. And to the patronage and prayers of Saint Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers, and the future saint John Paul the Great.

Until next time, then... join us as we cast out into the deep.

Pax Christi,
Duke Altum

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