And now, what does it all matter? It matters more than anything else in the world. The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three-Personal life is to be played out in each one of us: or (putting it the other way round) each one of us has got to enter that pattern, take his place in that dance. There is no other way to the happiness for which we were made.

Jewel,' he said, 'what lies before us? Horrible thoughts arise in my heart. If we had died before today we should have been happy.

Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love.

If, as I can't help suspecting, the dead also feel the pains of separation (and this may be one of their purgatorial sufferings), then for both lovers, and for all pairs of lovers without exception, bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love.

Is there any possibility of getting the super Welfare State's honey and avoiding the sting?

The central Christian belief is that Christ's death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start.

Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written.