Befriending Etty Hillesum

An unexpected downpour of rain and Etty Hillesum's diary tonight for company.  It arrived after about 6 days.  It pays to have express courier.  I must be really desperate for new insight.  I didn't notice Etty Hillesum's cover photo was of her holding a cigarette.  Such an ironic photo for a supposed spiritually awakening book.

Etty Hillesum
January 15, 1914 - November 30, 1943

Thanks to Rachel who's taste in contemporary spiritual and Catholic literature has greatly informed me about these things, I've decided to befriend Etty and hopefully learn from her journey to authentic faith and interior freedom.

"God, take me by Your hand, I shall follow You dutifully, and not resist too much....I shall follow wherever Your hand leads me and shall try not to be afraid. I shall try to spread some of my warmth, of my genuine love for others, wherever I go. But we shouldn't boast of our love for others. We cannot be sure that it really exists. I don't want to be anything special, I only want to try to be true to that in me which seeks to fulfill its promise. I sometimes imagine that I long for the seclusion of a nunnery. But I know that I must seek You among people, out in the world." (Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life)


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