Talking Tuesday: Letters to Saint Lydia

I started reading Letters of Saint Lydia this week, and I think this will be the first of several excerpts from this excellent book.  It is geared for young adults, but frankly, I think anyone would benefit from reading it.  The insights about human nature are true and profound.

"We will hope for better things for this young man.  Every child is born for heaven, even this 'egomaniac,' as you call him.  Perhaps something has happened to him that grieves him or frustrates him.  Perhaps his egotism is merely the face he shows to the world because he does not know how to do better.  Perhaps he is only frightened.  At some level, most people are.  Most of the evil that comes into the world has its roots in the fear of death.  It is a sickness, and only the knowledge of eternal life can cure it."

Melinda Johnson, Letters to Saint Lydia, Conciliar Press (now Ancient Faith Press), 2011, pp 26-27, emphasis mine, italics in the original.