i want to turn the world on its head by staying in bed
Me at Ely Cathedral, October 1999
morrissey | 'he knows i'd love to see him' | bona drag | 1990
ms. tippett: also what i think you're getting at there and what is also in this compatibility between children and religion also has something to do with, i mean, there's something mysterious in it as well, something about the mystery of those questions.
mr. coles: mystery is such an important part of it. and mystery invites curiosity and inquiry. you know, flannery o'connor — talk about a religious person, she was catholic in background but she was beyond catholicism; she was a deeply spiritual person. and she once was talking about the kind of person who becomes a good novelist, hoping that she would be included in that company but not daring to assume that that had happened. but once she said, beautifully — it's in her letters if the listeners want to get one of her books. it's called, the habit of being — but in one of those letters she says, "the task of the novelist is to deepen mystery." and then she pauses and she says, "but mystery is a great embarrassment to the modern mind." and there's our tragedy, that we have to resolve all mystery. we can't let it be. we can't rejoice in it. we can't celebrate it. we can't affirm it as an aspect of our lives because, after all, mystery is an aspect of our lives . . . mystery is a great challenge. it's an invitation, and it's a wonderful companion, actually.
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