I have had this experience this semester by
> >reading Flannery O'Connor's works. All the critics write of the
> >sadness to see her talent end with her death. I feel the sadness
> >because I am being evaluated for something that is related to lupus,
> it
> >is incurable and the cause is not known. I can tell you first hand of
> >the feeling of having a nasty antinuclear antibody disease where you
> >can feel your own body eating away at itself, a constant buzzing in
> the
> >ears and anticipate other horrors to come. I will not know if my case
> >will be mild or severe as the disease affects each person differently.
> >So it is with this franticness that Flannery's grace, works and
> >religious themes have given me comfort and shown me their meaning even
> >though she and her works are from another time and place (religion).
> >Her outlet in writing and her example have shown me her courage.
> There
> >is so much written about her works to ponder and discover about the
> >meaning of life. Just when you think you have understood all there is
> >to know on a subject the reader's perspective may change and the
> >literature may impart a whole new meaning.
student on Amlit2-L (anonymous)