Letter to a Godchild Concerning Faith

Novelist Price (The Good Priest's Son ) began setting down this lyrical letter on the occasion of the baptism of his godchild, Harper Peck Voll, in 2000. In it, he gently offers Harper wise and insightful nuggets on matters religious. It's one of the most revealing glimpses of Price's own religious journey we've had the privilege of seeing. Price recalls his own early religious vision of the circle of life: "In a single moment, I was allowed to see how intricately the vast contraption of nature... was bound into a single vast ongoing wheel by one immense power that had willed us into being." He also retells the story (found in full in A Whole New Life ) of his vision of Jesus and the powerful healing that followed it. Price offers practical advice for when Harper seeks to whet his religious curiosity: Harper should read the sacred texts of his native culture and immerse himself in the lives and works of the great believing composers and painters. Price encourages his godchild to work with the poor and hungry, to attend some regular religious ceremony and to search ardently for the truth. Although his novels, poetry and essays provide glimpses of Price's vision of religious experience, this marvelous little missive comes closest to being a spiritual autobiography. (June)